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THE 

PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

HELPS FOR THE CHRISTIAN WAYFARER 


BY 


REV. ALBERT MUNTSCH, SJ, 


B. HERDER BOOK CO. 

17 South Broadway, St. Louis, Mo. 
and 

68 Great Russell St., London, W. C. 
1918 





IMPRIMI POTEST 

A. J. Burr owes, S.J., 

Praep. Provincialis 

Prov. Missour. 


NIHIL OB ST AT 
Sti. Ludovici, die 17 April, 1918 

F. G. Holweck, 
Censor Librorum. 

IMPRIMATUR 
Sti. Ludovici, die 18 April, 1918 

•t*.Joannes J. Glennon, 

Archie pise opus 

Sti. Ludovici. 


Copyright, 1918 
by 


Joseph Gummersbach 

All rights reserved 
Printed in U. S. A. 

VAIL-BALLOU COMPANY 

BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK 


JUL 29 1918 


- © Ci. A 4 99900 



REV. DR. JOSEPH A. POMPENEY 

WHO HAS BRIGHTENED LIFE’S PILGRIMAGE FOR MANY 
BY HELPING THEM TO FOLLOW 
“THE KINDLY LIGHT” 



CONTENTS 


I. LIFE’S WARFARE. PAGE 

1. A Fundamental Question .i 

2. Helps Along the Journey of Life.6 

3. The Parting of the Ways.10 

4. The Problem of Human Suffering.14 

5. The Triumph of Failure.19 

6. The Plank After Shipwreck.23 

7. The Call of Christ.25 

8. The Call to Service.31 

9. “ Wearing the White Flower of a Blameless Life ” 34 

10. Work, not Worry.36 

11. “Work and Pray”.38 

12. We Are Creatures of God.40 

13. The Lesson of the Rood . 45 

II. OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR. 

14. The Catechism.51 

15. The Value of Prayer. 54 

16. The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament . . 57 

17. The Mass.61 
















CONTENTS 


PAGE 

18. The Communion of Saints.64 

19. Devout Aspirations. 66 

20. Our Liturgical Hymns. 7 ° 

21. The Spirit of Faith. 73 

22. Interior Mortification.78 

23. Exterior Mortification .81 

24. The Sermon on the Mount.83 

25. A Good Intention.86 

26. The Unity of the Church.88 

27. The Sanctity of the Church.92 

28. The Mission. 98 

29. “ I Am the Good Shepherd ”.101 


III. WHEN THE LAMP OF HOPE BURNS LOW. 


30. 


3i. 


32. 


33 . 

34 . 

35 . 

36 . 


37 - 

38 . 

39 . 


40. 


Weariness in Well-doing. 

Courage in Adversity. 

Little Joys. 

Blessings in Disguise. 

A Great Poet on Happiness. 

The Joyous Heart. 

The Faith of the Millions. 

The Liberty of the Children of God . . . . 

The Story of the Passion. 

The Value of the Individual. 

“Whither Shall I Fly from Thy Spirit?” . 


. 105 
. 108 
. 112 
. 114 
. 116 
. 119 

. 122 
. 124 
. 127 
. 129 
. 133 























CONTENTS 


PAGE 

41. God’s Presence . 136 

42. Peace of Mind.139 

43. The Quest of Happiness. 145 

44. The World. 149 

45. Servitude to the World. 154 

46. The Vision of Immortality.156 

IV. THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES. 

47. Lady Poverty.160 

48. For Greater Things.164 

49. Weeping Over Jerusalem.166 

50. What Is Worth While?.170 

51. The Testimony of Those Without.172 

52. Soul Culture.179 

53. “A Holy and Wholesome Thought”.182 

54. “ But Our Conversation Is in Heaven ” . . . .184 

55. St. Francis of Assisi — The Apostle of Brotherly 

Love.188 

56. “ So Like a Shattered Column Lay the King ” . 192 

57. “The Greatest of These Is Charity” .... 195 

58. God and Nature.199 

59. The Saints and Democracy.201 

60. Two Types of Heroes.205 

61. Meteor-like They Vanish.211 

62. Accepting Hard Truths.214 

63. The Public Life of Christ.216 


























THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


LIFE’S WARFARE 

I. A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION 

It has sometimes been said that the ignorance 
among large classes of people in this country, re¬ 
garding religious truths, is startling. We are liv¬ 
ing in an age of enlightenment, universal education, 
and of the Public Library, which now goes out on 
the highways and into the byways to invite all to 
come and share its treasures. And though many 
respond to the call, yet the blindness and want of 
insight regarding the truths of faith and concerning 
teachings that must have influence upon man’s eter¬ 
nal destiny are not dispelled. Certainly many are 
unable to give a clear and ready answer to that most 
important and fundamental question: “ Why have 

you been created? ” 

The editor of one of our popular, or rather sen¬ 
sational monthlies, took this widespread ignorance 


i 


2 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


and uncertainty as a basis for a “ series of leading 
articles ” in his publication some eight years ago. 
He put that fundamental question into a slightly 
different form: “ What life means to me?” He 
then sent it to a score of prominent American writ¬ 
ers. He asked them to write a candid reply in 
answer, with a view of publishing the same in his 
magazine — the Cosmopolitan. Among those who 
replied were Jack London, John Burroughs, Upton 
Sinclair, and Alfred Henry Lewis. 

It will suffice to give the answer of the last-named 
author to the question of the editor. “ If any one 
were to ask me how to become a good man, I would 
say,—become a good animal.” This is the bold 
answer of Mr. Lewis. This is his philosophy of 
life. This is the sum total of his strivings and am¬ 
bitions. What a horrible comment on the meaning 
of our so-called culture and education. In one sen¬ 
tence we are brought back to the darkest days of 

pagan antiquity, nay, even further back than this,_ 

to the primitive savage still groveling in the abyss 
and to whom had come as yet neither material cul¬ 
ture nor the bright light of revelation. Mr. Lewis 
is proud of his advice. He says that he gives it 
after reflection. This sad confession of a sup- 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


3 


posedly highly-educated man reveals the abysmal 
ignorance above alluded to, in matters of religion, 
in truths connected with our eternal destiny as chil¬ 
dren of God. 

How immensely richer are our little children who 
during their first years at the parochial school are 
taught the one and only correct answer to the same 
fundamental question: “ Why did God create 

us ? ” They give, and fully understand the reply: 
“ To know, love, and serve God, and by so doing to 
save my immortal soul.” This answer contains a 
true, a sound, a rational and even a working philoso¬ 
phy of life. For the man forgetful of God, of his 
obligations towards Him, and towards his own soul, 
stumbles blindly through life. His life has neither 
purpose nor direction. His existence is bound to be 
a failure. Unless he come to some firm knowledge 
as to the purpose of his stay upon earth, he may 
well be compared to the rudderless ship sent adrift 
upon the main. 

He may know many things in science, in politics, 
and in history. He may have studied the achieve¬ 
ments of great men. But we repeat, unless his own 
life has some definite object, unless he clearly realizes 
the one reason why he has been created, all his 


4 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


strivings and ambitions, and even his very achieve¬ 
ments, count for nothing. And yet even reason 
alone must tell him that he has been created for 
something which the world can never give. If he 
looks about him he will notice that everything 
created serves a definite purpose, and ministers to 
something higher than itself in the scale of creation. 
Plant-life, with its marvelous variety, serves the in¬ 
terests and use of the animal-world and of men. 
The animal-world, with its numerous species, bene¬ 
fits man and answers in many a way to his various 
needs. Shall man alone be devoid of any higher 
aim or purpose? It may be said perhaps that this 
aim and purpose of his existence is to be found 
in the things of sense and time. Some have tried 
to find it, for instance, in the conquest of vast riches, 
in the attainment of worldly prestige, and in sensual 
indulgence. “ These are our gods,” say some, 
“ these are things worth striving for, in their attain¬ 
ment consists the purpose of our creation.” 

Alas! that man should be so blind and short¬ 
sighted, as to seek his happiness there, where it 
cannot be found! For never shall these frivolous 
pursuits fill the yearning of his heart for happiness. 
Ever has it been true what Solomon said of old, 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


5 


concerning the inane and insane craving for things 
of earth: “ Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.” 

St. Augustine stated the same truth when he said: 
“ Our heart is made for Thee, O God, and it rests 
not until it finds Thee.” In other words, we are 
made only to know, love and serve God. 

Without a higher, a spiritual and a supernatural 
world-view, without religion, man, even the one 
most highly gifted, becomes a mere machine. 
Without Christ, who can change even the most 
rugged cross of suffering into a privilege enriching 
life — man will either become a gloomy pessimist, 
or a victim devoted to morbid broodings on the ills 
inseparable from life. We need high and exalted 
ideals to carry us over the, at times, oppressive 
burdens and afflictions of life. In our weaknesses, 
temptations and sufferings, in our days filled with 
sorrows, and during our nights when the lamp of 
hope burns low, we need strength from on high. 
But the man who has been taught that he is made to 
know, love and serve God will more readily ask for 
this supernatural light and guidance and will more 
surely obtain them. For his religion teaches him a 
watchword “ Sursum corda!” Lift up your 
hearts! This man has come to understand the one 


6 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


fundamental question — the object of his existence. 
He need not keep his eyes groveling on the ground 
in the dark hour of trial, but he can lift them up 
to his home beyond the stars, and receive thence the 
help needed to continue bravely and manfully life’s 
pilgrimage. 

2. HELPS ALONG THE JOURNEY OF LIFE 

Holy Scripture and the saints of God frequently 
compare man’s life on earth to a journey. They 
teach us that we are like pilgrims on the way to a 
distant goal. This goal is eternity — and to 
eternity we are hastening onwards every day. We 
meet many snares and pitfalls on this journey 
through life. We are often told that “ life is a war¬ 
fare,”— a warfare against evil passion, against evil 
inclination, against temptation and sin. We are 
warned to be always ready to fight successfully in 
this spiritual combat. 

Now our lot would indeed be sad and deplorable 
were there no means at hand to help us in the 
struggle against the manifold forces of evil which 
we inevitably encounter through the pilgrimage of 
life. But as children of the Church of Christ we 
have been amply provided with means to make 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


7 


this journey through life a success. For we have 
been provided with the seven sacraments — so many 
channels of grace, from which we may draw 
strength and courage and consolation when the 
spirit flags and the trials and temptations of life 
weigh heavily upon us. How grateful we ought 
to be for these spiritual means ever at our command, 
for these powerful helps and incentives towards 
leading the Christ-like life. 

It is not necessary to recite in detail the manifold 
effects of the sacraments when worthily received. 
It will suffice to speak of the marvelous effects pro¬ 
duced in the soul by two of them — Penance and 
the Holy Eucharist. Many a member of the Holy 
Church sets out with hope upon this journey of life, 
with a noble resolve to remain true to his Lord 
during the days of his earthly pilgrimage. But 
alas! for the weakness of man! Ere he is aware, 
robber passions attack him. Like the poor traveler 
going to Jericho he is stripped of all his goods — 
spiritual goods, the robe of sanctifying grace, and 
he is left alone in his shame and degradation. 
Where now shall he turn in his sad plight? Or 
perhaps, in an evil hour less virtuous companions 
have given him an outlook into another land, a land 


8 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


where hang the shadows of death and where bloom 
the fruits of lasting remorse. Again, he is deprived 
of priceless spiritual possessions — the state of 
sanctifying grace and the privilege of fellowship 
with Christ. Whither shall this wounded, wearied, 
abandoned soul look for help and remedy? Shall 
it not be to the Christ, to the Son of the living 
God, to Him Who came to save, to uplift and to 
sanctify? 

Has not this same Saviour instituted a special 
sacrament for those who like him have sinned 
grievously after receiving Baptism? Has he not 
told His apostles, and through them, told all the 
priests of His everlasting Church: “ Whose sins 

you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and 
whose sins you shall retain they are retained?” 
The Council of Trent aptly calls this Sacrament a 
plank for those who have suffered spiritual ship¬ 
wreck by losing the grace of God received in the 
Sacrament of Baptism. But Confession is at the 
same time one of the best and most practical means 
for making the journey of life upwards towards 
our heavenly homeland a success. 

Next to Confession as a means and help along 
life’s journey must be mentioned the Holy 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


9 


Eucharist. It is the food of the strong, the wine 
that makes virgins, the Bread of Heaven, contain¬ 
ing all sweetness. You may remember the beauti¬ 
ful story told in the Book of Kings — a story fore¬ 
telling the wonderful power of the Holy Eucharist 
for Christians as a support through life’s devious 
ways. The prophet Elias fled into the desert from 
the face of the wicked Queen Jezabel, who sought 
to put him to death. And as the man of God 
was oppressed by the heat and fatigue of his journey 
he lay down under a juniper tree and fell asleep. 
And lo, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, and 
placed a vessel with water and a hearth-cake by his 
head, and awoke him and said to him: “ Arise, 

eat, for thou hast yet a long way to go.” And 
Elias arose and partook of that heaven-sent food, 
and in the strength thereof, he went forward for 
forty days until he came to the mountain of God, 
Horeb. This beautiful story has been interpreted 
by the Fathers as a figure and a wonderful fore¬ 
shadowing of that real Bread from heaven, which 
was to be given to the Christian wayfarer in the 
New Law. 

Besides these two powerful helps, there are many 
others proffered to every member of the Church 


IO 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


of Christ, wherewith to travel forward successfully 
through the pilgrimage of years. We have the 
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Benediction of the 
Blessed Sacrament, our beautiful and approved de¬ 
votions, like those to the Sacred Heart and to the 
Sacred Passion of our Redeemer. We have our 
sodalities and our confraternities, membership in 
which is frequently enriched with special spiritual 
privileges and with indulgences. Verily, the Cath¬ 
olic cannot complain that his Church, which is rightly 
called a mother, fails to provide him with weapons 
wherewith to fight the spiritual combat. Let us 
examine whether we appreciate this goodness and 
this foresight of our mother, and whether we make 
good use of these helps wherewith we may be en¬ 
abled to remain her faithful children even to the 
end of life’s journey and pilgrimage. 

3 . THE PARTING OF THE WAYS 

Traveling through a country district one fre¬ 
quently comes to a cross-road. Other ways lead 
off therefrom in different directions. If the 
traveler is not quite certain of his goal, he will stand 
for a while at this parting of the ways, not knowing 
which one to choose. 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


ii 


As we go through life we come occasionally to 
such a parting of the ways. We are brought face 
to face with a crisis. We must make a decision. 
We must choose a certain path, adopt a certain line 
of conduct. On a wise choice will perhaps depend 
subsequent peace and happiness. For the choice 
may have a direct influence on one’s whole after 
life. 

It is worth while, then, to reflect before taking 
the step, before adopting the way you will follow. 
So much depends on making a good start. Many 
a youth sets out bravely in the morning of life 
with high hope to make the best of his opportunities, 
to be a hero in the strife, to rise to success in some 
work or profession. But to accomplish all this he 
needs certain qualities of mind and heart and body. 
He needs help and strength and the wisdom of 
books and the experience of years. 

All these may come to him if he make the right 
start, if he choose wisely when he comes to the 
parting of the ways. Perhaps thus far all went 
well. Good parents watched over him. Ex¬ 
perienced teachers encouraged him. Many prayed 
for him. He seemed to be a child with heaven’s 
favors upon him. But yet even for him life could 


12 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


not always remain full of sunshine. At some hour 
this life must spell warfare, a struggle against forces 
of evil from within and without. 

Perhaps the youth is left to his own resources 
after leaving the sheltering care of parents and 
teachers. The time has come when he must make 
some great decision which requires strength of 
character. He has now come to the parting of the 
ways. It is a great hour for him. Shall he listen 
to the still, small voice of duty and conscience? 
Shall he act according to the principles taught him 
by kind parents and wise teachers? Or shall he 
heed the wild voice which is for the first time speak¬ 
ing within him, and follow that restless desire 
urging him into new and forbidden paths? Shall 
he hearken to the siren whispers of evil companions 
who try to cast a slur upon all he has thus far held 
in reverence? 

Surely a great moment in the life of the youth! 
We may well pray that such a one’s choice will 
be a good and wise one and that the holy angels 
will give him strength to conquer his enemies. For 
if in a moment of weakness, of spiritual coward¬ 
liness and faint-heartedness, he prefer the wrong 
path, perhaps a golden future will be blighted. No 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


13 


chance then to gain the strength and experience and 
wisdom required to achieve the better things in 
life’s battle. Hence it is, that we encourage our 
children in Catholic schools to learn the art of self¬ 
conquest. If such a habit be formed in youth it 
will be easier later on to resist the voice of tempta¬ 
tion and to remain faithful to the call of duty. It 
will be easier to select the right path when facing 
the parting of the ways. 

Yet, even if in a weak moment, he may have en¬ 
tered upon the primrose path that leads to everlasting 
death, there still remains hope that he may find 
again the road to his Father’s house. For the Lord 
Christ, who once said to a certain young man: 
“ Young man I say to thee, arise,” that same 
Saviour is ever ready to listen to the prayer for 
help and pardon. He will be at hand to guide the 
wanderer back to the fold and to give him new 
courage and strength to persevere in righteousness. 
Yet, though it be sweet and consoling to hear the 
Master’s word of pardon, after having offended 
Him by sin, still more sweet and consoling is it never 
to have left Him and never to have listened to His 
enemies. Hence we may well pray that when some 
loved one arrives at the parting of the ways, there 


14 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


may come to him the light and the fixed determina¬ 
tion to take the better path, which will lead him 
upward, onward and forward to his God and 
Saviour. 

4. THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN SUFFERING 

The problem of human suffering has at all times 
engaged the thoughts and attention of men. For 
it does seem strange that the sorrows and afflictions 
of many a human life should far outweigh its joys 
and hours of gladness. Holy Scripture rightly 
compares man’s existence to a warfare, and in the 
liturgical language of the Church, we speak of man’s 
life as a journey through a vale of tears. Each 
one’s own individual experience forces the bitter 
truth upon him that joy is soon followed by sorrow, 
and that heart-ache speedily followeth after the 
brief spell of delight. 

The un-Christian philosophy of our day has 
taken up the question “ why so much poverty and 
pain and distress among the children of men?” 
And it must confess that it knows not their mean¬ 
ing and value, nor can it suggest any motive of 
hope and encouragement to the man whom calamity 
seems to have marked out for its special victim. 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


15 


The adherents of that modern school of thought 
which proudly boasts that it has outgrown the faith 
and doctrine of Christianity, are almost forced to 
look upon suffering and misery as nothing but 
obstacles to progress and to the universal reign of 
culture. 

And why is it that there are so many and such 
deplorable failures in a matter which concerns our 
deepest interests here below and is intimately bound 
up with our eternal destiny in the life to come? 
The reason of the many failures lies in this, that 
the solution of the problem demands the light of 
faith. That problem is closely related to the end 
and aim of man’s existence on earth. And man is 
destined for a supernatural end, for God, for His 
love and eternal possession. We are in fact pil¬ 
grims, wayfarers to our true home and fatherland. 
Alas! that the way to that eternal life lies through 
a vale of tears and bitterness. It was not intended 
so originally by the Eternal Father. For life, 
which by Him was destined to be all gladness and 
sunshine, has through the fall of man been blighted 
by misery. We are now a fallen race. Sin has 
entered into the world. With sin came sorrow and 
pain and suffering and — death. 


16 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

Yet we are not cast out into the utter darkness. 
A Redeemer came to open the pathway to eternal 
life, to clear the way, to brush aside the obstacles 
on our onward march to the heavenly Jerusalem. 
It was His immeasurable love for us that caused 
Him to come. Love prompted Him to leave the 
eternal mansions and to walk pilgrim-like in the 
flesh for the space of thirty-three years, working 
out a painful human life, like the humblest and poor¬ 
est of the children of men. He purchased for us 
the right to be called again children of God. He 
was the Son of God and He alone could make atone¬ 
ment for the sins of men. For so the infinite justice 
of God the Father — a justice which cannot be 
measured by human standards — demanded. That 
vicarious atonement was necessary. For the of¬ 
fense was sin — and the malice of sin we never can 
fathom. It is infinite in so far as it offends an 
infinite God. And only an infinite person, distinct 
from the outraged majesty of God the Eternal 
Father, could take up the work of expiation. 

And this vision gives unto us the key to the 
problem of human suffering. For Christ indeed 
stands forth as the Saviour, the Ransomer, the Life- 
giver, the Redeemer of men. But say not that all 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


17 


has been accomplished. For every one of us the 
right has indeed been secured of having access to 
the Father on account of the infinite merits of the 
passion and crucifixion of the Divine Son. But 
we, too, must walk the Way of the Cross — the 
royal road that leads to Calvary. For Christ is not 
only our Saviour, but He is also our King and Lord. 
He desires our service. His way must be our way. 
Where the King and Master trod, there too must go 
the children, His subjects. We are His children 
and subjects. And know you not that therefore 
man’s life upon earth is a warfare — that therefore 
through many tribulations we must enter the 
Kingdom of heaven, and that therefore every child 
of Adam, that would not forfeit the eternal in¬ 
heritance placed by Jesus Christ within the reach of 
all, must take up the cross — the burdens and afflic¬ 
tions of life — and follow Him up, up the steep 
heights of Calvary? He went before us and drank 
the bitter chalice which His Father had prepared 
for Him, And it is not for us to seek a smooth 
and easy path to eternal life, when the redeeming 
work of Christ, our King, was wrought in the valley 
of toil and tears. Thus it becomes plain why sor¬ 
row and sadness accompany us also on the journey 


18 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

of life. For we must become like unto the Master 
to enter into His glory. 

From the Cross of Christ there come to us bright 
and consoling rays which illumine the dark problem 
of human woe and suffering. The sufferings of 
our Divine Lord now appear as a necessary element 
in the economy of our Redemption. Now His pas¬ 
sion and agony stand forth not only as a vehicle of 
grace unto us, but as a great gift of divine love. 
Christ, the Crucified, has shown us that for sinful 
man the glory and privilege of being called children 
of God has been purchased by the shame and 
ignominy of the Cross. Christ, the Crucified, offers 
us the solution of the problem of human suffering. 
% passion and death He has achieved for us 
the greatest triumph. By that same passion and 
agony he wrought out the greatest work ever given 
man to accomplish — the salvation of the race. 

When dread disease overtakes us, when burning 
pain and torture rack our limbs, when the hour has 
come for us to say a last farewell to our loved ones 
and to take leave of the things of earth — then we 
take our crucifix into our trembling hands, and kiss¬ 
ing it reverently, pray for strength and persever¬ 
ance. For we know that only from the Cross can 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


19 


come light in darkness, only from it can stream hope 
and uplift in that last dread crisis. The Cross of 
Christ and the dreadful sufferings which it symbol¬ 
izes — these give unto the Christian the sweet assur¬ 
ance of victory in that last great hour. But this 
sign of salvation also offers him the solution of one 
of the most puzzling of world problems — the prob¬ 
lem of human suffering. 

5. THE TRIUMPH OF FAILURE 

We often read of the complete antithesis that 
exists between the spirit of the world and the spirit 
of Christ. As Christians, we are told to hate the 
world and to beware of its snares and deceitful 
maxims. We need not be afraid to follow our 
Lord’s advice to hate the world and its abomina¬ 
tions. He Himself said: “ I pray not for the 

world.” The world is a society diametrically op¬ 
posed to the spirit and purpose of the great spiritual 
organization, founded to save souls — the Catholic 
Church. 

As a consequence of this antagonism between the 
two organizations, there is also a complete antithe¬ 
sis in the judgments, which they respectively pass on 
questions and principles of utmost importance to 


20 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


man. When, for instance, a man who has spent his 
whole life in poverty and suffering comes to die, 
the world, that is, people in general, will say that 
such a man’s life was a failure. And when to the 
last days of that man there were added great death¬ 
bed sufferings, when he was carried out to a lone 
grave — the world will say that such a life was even 
a greater failure. But mark well, this is the judg¬ 
ment of a hard and selfish world, which measures 
success by gross material standards. 

For is it true that a life of pain and suffering 
patiently borne, a life of poverty passed in the 
friendship of God, but devoid of all the pleasures 
and comforts of this world, is really a failure? 
We must answer in the negative if we base our 
opinions on the words of our Divine Lord. He 
tells us of the poor man Lazarus, who received not 
even the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table, 
and yet, when he came to die, was borne by an¬ 
gels to the home of eternal peace and happiness. 
And the rich man, who was clad in fine linen and 
fared sumptuously every day, the hard-hearted one, 
when he too came to die, he was buried in hell. 
Therefore, is it true that a life of affliction and 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


21 


misery, borne with resignation and conformity to 
God’s will, is a failure? 

Judged from the standpoint of the world our 
Divine Lord’s career was evidently a complete 
failure. For it was a life of humility, of toil and 
of dire poverty. He had some obscure friends, 
few of whom He could trust entirely, and one of 
whom sold Him to His enemies. Hence when these 
enemies had done Him to death and had consigned 
Him to the tomb, they rejoiced mightily. For 
they looked upon that man as inimical to their in¬ 
terests, and now they were glad, because, ap¬ 
parently, His life had closed with the ignominy of 
the cross. And yet on the third day that same 
Jesus, whose life they had loudly proclaimed a 
failure, by His own might rose from the tomb, and 
stood forth as victor, crowned with undying glory. 

The lives of those who imitate Christ most 
closely, that is, the lives of the saints, are often 
looked upon as failures by a deluded world. And 
from the narrow, worldly point of view we may 
grant that they are failures. Thus the magnan¬ 
imous St. Paul, enduring hardships and privations 
for the Master he once persecuted, may have seemed 


22 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

a simpleton to the wise men of Greece and Rome. 
And yet to-day, the name of Paul shines forth 
brightly as an heroic apostle of righteousness unto 
the nations, and as the one who brought unto them 
the knowledge and the love of the Lord Jesus. 
Many of the saints died after horrid tortures for the 
sake of their Divine Master. We may mention a 
St. Agnes and a St. Cecilia. The world pitied them 
for their folly in giving up their rich prospects, their 
homes, the pleasures of life. And yet, now these 
two names loom up brightly on the roll of illustrious 
heroines. St. Athanasius persecuted by the world, 
Francis Xavier penetrating to an unknown people, 
Peter Claver slaving for the black outcast of Car- 
thagena, Vincent de Paul, sacrificing his health that 
others might live, Brebeuf and Lallemant dying 
amid flames for the tribes of the Canadian forest, 
Father Damien breathing out his soul amidst the 
lepers of Molokai, Joan of Arc suffering at the stake, 
Soeur Therese, the Little Flower of Jesus, leading a 
quiet and retired life when she might have shone in 
society —the lives of these and of countless other 
devoted men and women may have seemed a failure 
to a blind and sinful world, for these lives were all 
inspired by “ the folly of the cross.” And the cross 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


23 


means everything that the world flees from. But 
are not all these great saints esteemed as heroes of 
humanity, has not the world been made better for 
their living and are they not honored to-day by the 
noblest of our race? The saints are great, not only 
because churches and towns and institutions have 
been named in their honor, not only because they 
did great things for the welfare of the human 
brotherhood, but above all, because they led the 
saintly life — because they were heroes in the 
strife for good and for virtue, heroes in the 
contest against evil and sin and unrighteousness of 
every kind. Does not the glory which to-day is 
theirs answer the question, whether the virtuous 
life, though ending in obscurity and even in martyr¬ 
dom, is a failure? 

6. THE PLANK AFTER SHIPWRECK 

The Council of Trent refers to the Sacrament of 
Penance as a plank to be seized upon by the soul 
when it has suffered shipwreck by mortal sin. 
Mortal sin deals death to the soul and makes it an 
object of disgust in the sight of God. The soul 
can no longer merit for Heaven while it is in the 
state of grievous sin. By losing sanctifying grace 


24 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


it has lost its right to Heaven, its privilege to re¬ 
joice in the liberty of the children of God. The 
soul is useless, dead, and the slender thread of life 
alone keeps it from well-merited, eternal doom. 

Yet there is hope for that stricken soul even when 
the night of spiritual death has seized upon it. 
There is a sacrament of pardon, of forgiveness, of 
reconciliation. “ I will not the death of the sinner, 
but that he be converted and live. ,, A plank is 
ready at hand to save the soul from everlasting woe. 
This plank is provided by a sincere and contrite con¬ 
fession of the sin which has plunged the soul in 
misery. 

Why should we not regard Confession as such 
a help and comfort when ugly sin has stolen into 
the soul and robbed us of peace, of gladness and 
the grace of God! Far from us the thought that 
Confession is intended to be a torture, a rack, a 
grievous burden! Not so; it is a plank sent to you 
because you have had the misfortune to suffer 
spiritual shipwreck and to endanger the salvation of 
your precious soul. That soul is endowed with im¬ 
mortality. But the gift of immortality is turned 
into a curse unspeakable if your immortal life be 
not spent with God in the Eternal City. To enable 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


25 


you to escape the dreadful doom of the sinner in the 
land of everlasting woe, there has been prepared for 
you, instituted for you, this Sacrament of Penance, 
offering you once more the gift of immortal life in 
the City of God. 

Confession, then, is indeed a rescue to those of us 
who have gone astray, who have been assailed by 
robber passions on the pilgrimage of life, and been 
despoiled by them of the robe of sanctifying grace. 
How happy our lot when compared with that of 
those who are unaware of the grace and saving 
power of this great sacrament for the storm-tossed 
soul? Peace of mind should result from the 
blessed thought that we have always seized bravely 
upon this plank after we have had the appalling 
misfortune to lose sight of God for awhile by the 
commission of dread mortal sin. The frequent use 
of this holy means of confession will help us to beat 
down the enemies that assail us, and to go forward 
steadily upon the path that leads to the possession 
of the crown of justice. 

7. THE CALL OF CHRIST 

In his well-known book called the “ Spiritual 
Exercises/’ St. Ignatius of Loyola has a fine medita- 


26 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


tion called the “ Kingdom of Christ,” or the “ Call 
of Christ.” It presents a great leader who is about 
to undertake an important work, a work not for his 
own glory, but for the glory of the Most High 
God. In following out this work he needs many 
loyal and devoted helpers. So he issues a call for 
volunteers. Those who accept the invitation are 
to undergo no hardship and no dangers which the 
captain and leader himself is not willing to en¬ 
counter. 

It has been said, and no doubt with much truth, 
that this meditation of the great saint has inspired 
many generous souls to unselfish service in the cause 
of God, the extension of His kingdom and the sal¬ 
vation of immortal souls. For Christ, indeed, has 
issued such a call. He desires all men to be mem¬ 
bers of His Church, His Kingdom, His spiritual 
army. His enemies, and the enemies who thwart 
the divine mission which His Father has laid upon 
Him, are legion. Christ wants all earnest-minded 
souls to take part in this glorious work of combating 
the enemies of His Father, of His Holy Kingdom. 

Christ Himself shows us what response we are 
to make to His call. For when He was twelve years 
of age, He went up to Jerusalem with His parents. 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


27 


When He had been found in the temple, after three 
days’ separation from Mary and Joseph, He said 
to them, “ Know you not that I must be about My 
Father’s business?” Father Coleridge, S. J., who 
has given us many beautiful studies on the Life of 
Christ, rightly says that these first recorded words 
of the God-man have prompted many persons to 
give up worldly ambitions and to follow the lowly 
Christ in that life which He Himself led — a life of 
toil and abnegation for the glory of God and for the 
salvation of souls, for the extension of His kingdom 
and in warfare against those enemies that beset the 
soul’s salvation. 

Though it is not given to all to follow Christ in 
the religious life,— the life of poverty, chastity and 
obedience,— yet all may listen to, and follow in 
some way, His holy call. For all may take part 
in that glorious campaign of extending the Kingdom 
of the Lord, of warring against our spiritual 
enemies, of combating religious error and of build¬ 
ing up His reign first in our own hearts, and then, 
by the force of good example, in the hearts of our 
fellow men. 

But there are also more practical ways in which 
the children of the Church can follow the call of 


28 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


Christ. This is rightly called the age of the 
Catholic lay apostle. We need the Catholic laymen. 
We need him in our charitable, our educational, our 
social reform work. Many ways have been pointed 
out of late in which the Catholic laymen can serve 
his Church and help in the work she must accom¬ 
plish. Can he not engage in some of this work? 
Can he not be of some practical assistance in a 
parish activity? There are, for instance, the many 
Church societies, with well-defined object. They 
either further some charitable undertaking, or foster 
a useful devotion or promote some laudable cause 
making for the good of the parish and all its people. 
Would it not be worth while to join your forces 
with these agencies of good ? 

Some are unwilling to join these Church organi¬ 
zations. They say they are doing quite enough by 
attending to their duties as Catholics, by going to 
Mass on Sunday and contributing to the support 
of the Church. This is quite true. They are doing 
enough to remain in the Church and to receive its 
manifold graces and blessings. But what about the 
call of Christ? Is He not calling you to something 
better, perhaps to something which requires a little 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


29 


sacrifice ? But He will ask you to do nothing unless 
He has first given you the example. If He calls you 
to sacrifice and suffering He has shown you the way. 
In the meditation referred to, the great leader tells 
his followers that the hardships of the loyal liege¬ 
men will likewise be his own. Is not this true of 
Christ, who asks all of us to follow Him who is the 
way, the truth and the life? 

But to return to our Catholic layman. We grant 
that he does something by being a good church 
member. Yet we know that to-day the Church has 
many enemies to combat. To oppose them success¬ 
fully there is need of a united Catholic laity, fight¬ 
ing and giving good example under a united clergy 
and episcopate and loyally devoted to the common 
spiritual father and guide of all — Christ’s repre¬ 
sentative in the Chair of Peter. But Catholic union 
implies a society, a confraternity or a sodality 
which gathers its members in a worthy cause and in¬ 
structs and inspires them in the living up to high 
Catholic ideals. Their cause as members of such 
societies will always be more or less connected with 
God’s glory, with the extension and defense of the 
true faith and with the salvation of souls. Now 


30 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


by helping in any of these noble works you are 
listening to the call of Christ. 

Now, too, is the time when invitations are going 
out to join in the laymen’s retreat movement. Per¬ 
haps the call of Christ is very definite for you this 
summer. It is a very great grace to make one of 
these “ retreats ” alone with your God. In listening 
to this particular call you will learn many things 
about the soul’s life, you will be encouraged and 
strengthened to do your share as a lay-apostle in 
these days when we need the laymen so much. 

But all of us can give heed to this call of the great 
leader in the meditation on the “ Call of Christ.” 
We need not go forth over unknown seas and into 
strange lands to preach the name of Christ. We 
follow Him and listen to the call when we con¬ 
quer the enemies within — evil inclinations and 
temptations to sin. This is a very practical way of 
working for His kingdom. Let us be assured that 
no matter what our particular duties be, or where 
our work lies — if we be faithful to every inspira¬ 
tion of grace and do all in our power to serve Him, 
if we, in a word, identify our interests with His, 
we hearken to the benign call, become workers in 
His army and shall share in the blessed reward. 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


3i 


8. THE CALL TO SERVICE 

In the first chapter of the Prophecy of Jeremias, 
the prophet tells us how “ the word of the Lord ” 
came to him, calling him to service. The Lord 
spoke to him in a vision, saying how He had sancti¬ 
fied him before birth, and how he was to become a 
teacher unto the nations. But Jeremias said: 
“ Lord God; behold I cannot speak, for I am a 
child.” The Lord wished him to do noble work 
in His cause and to prepare the way for the advent 
of the Messiah. He promised him furthermore 
that when enemies would rise to fight against him, 
they would not prevail —“ for I am with thee, saith 
the Lord, to deliver thee.” And yet the great priest 
of the Old Law was afraid. 

Like the prophet of old, our men of to-day, 
especially our young men in colleges and in public 
life, in the workshops and in the offices, at the club 
and in the factories, are occasionally called upon to 
testify to the Lord. They are to be witnesses to 
His Name. Nay more, it may at times be their 
bounden duty to testify to the faith that is in them 
and to battle for the Lord. For in these days when 
the Church is so much attacked by open and by 


32 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


hidden enemies, may there not arise an occasion 
when they are to stand forth as soldiers of the Lord 
Christ, and when the sacramental grace received in 
Holy Confirmation is to enable them to do some 
definite work for God’s glory and the honor of His 
Church ? 

Shall they in that hour plead inefficiency? Shall 
they excuse themselves by alleging the difficulty of 
the task? Shall they shift the burden to other 
shoulders, saying that they are not prepared for the 
emergency? Alas, for the cowardice of men! We 
need men to-day, men who can stand foursquare 
to every wind of opposing doctrine. The Catholic 
Church needs such noble champions to-day. She 
calls aloud for them in this the day of her tribula¬ 
tion. Her fair name is befouled by vile and cow¬ 
ardly enemies. Her sacred practices are held up to 
the scorn of an ignorant rabble. Her priests and 
consecrated virgins are publicly insulted and the 
tongue of calumny is ever leveled against them. 
Where then are her defenders? 

It is useless to allege “I am a child.” Do at 
least what you can. If you are not in a position 
to answer publicly the base charges, if you are not 
gifted with voice and knowledge to defend your 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


33 


faith and Church in the open assembly, you can 
do something which is perhaps just as excellent. 
You can give testimony to the holiness of your 
Church and to the higher requirements demanded 
of her children, by your exemplary Christian life. 
In any event, do not use the excuse of the prophet, 
“ I am a child.” For surely the Lord will answer 
you, “ Do not say I am a child.” You have re¬ 
ceived the grace and spiritual power of Confirma¬ 
tion. You have been made strong with the chrism 
of salvation. Hence remember in the hour of con¬ 
flict what is expected of you as the soldier of the 
Lord your God. 

Do you wish to know how to answer this call to 
service in a very practical way? All about you in 
the shops and offices, on the streets, in the clubs, 
on the highways and byways, you meet the evil- 
tongued blasphemer, and him whose words are filth 
and corruption. A stream of polluted conversation 
rises up to high heaven and calls down the anger 
of an All-holy God. Catholic young men, what is 
your duty in this distressing situation? Scandal is 
being given almost every moment, and perhaps 
souls, which were once glad in the grace of God, 
are being ruined eternally. Are you to stand idly 


34 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


by? Worse still, are you to join forces with these 
spirits of evil, with these despoilers of innocence? 
Foul language debases minds, corrupts hearts, 
destroys souls. What a magnificent opportunity 
you have to lend a helping hand to a tempted 
brother, to speak a strong, manly word of needed 
reproof and to encourage those who are struggling 
against these evil forces hourly besetting them. 
This is one way in which you may be a hero in the 
strife, a hero for righteousness, for your God and 
for your Church. 

9- “ WEARING THE WHITE FLOWER OF A 

BLAMELESS LIFE ” 

In the Dedication of “ The Idyls of the King,” 
Tennyson, summing up the virtues of Prince Albert, 
says that he was distinguished above all for “ wear¬ 
ing the white flower of a blameless life.” The 
prince was “ modest, kindly, all-accomplished, 
wise.” Yet it was chiefly the moral excellence of 
his life that won for him the admiration of his 
people. 

But not only those who pass their days “ in that 
fierce light which beats upon a throne ” are entitled 
to grateful recognition for giving unto others the 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


35 


high example of a blamelss life. Not only those 
who occupy the seats of the mighty, deserve praise 
for keeping down the base in man and for striv¬ 
ing upward with strong resolve. The lowly worker 
who gives cheer and inspiration to a neighbor in 
the battle of life by kind word, by courageous con¬ 
duct, and by the value he sets on keeping his soul 
free from the stain of grosser sin — such a one is 
likewise a hero in the strife. He, too, deserves well 
of his fellow-men for “ wearing the white flower 
of a blameless life.” 

This much-quoted line from the Poet-laureate 
shows that it is not dazzling achievement in state¬ 
craft or warfare that lends renown to the character 
of those who rule others. These accomplishments 
pass away and may even leave a train of grim evils 
in their wake. Posterity is keen in deciding a ruler’s 
claim to grateful recognition. It will look for 
something of real and lasting value in his career. 
It will remember his virtues and his vices. Happy 
the sovereign if the former outweigh the latter in 
the shrewd opinion of the multitude! For then 
will he be held in loving remembrance by the best 
and noblest, because he wore “ the white flower of 
a blameless life.” 


36 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


10. WORK, NOT WORRY 

“ Thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy 
brow ” is the command laid upon us all since Adam 
plunged the whole race into misery by the com¬ 
mission of sin. From this law of work no one is 
to be exempt. We must all do our appointed task 
and bear our burdens to the end of our days. 
Workless days and years without trial and toil are 
promised to no one in this vale of tears. 

We need not believe, however, that work whether 
it be of hand or mind, must be accompanied by 
worry and constant fret and anxiety. Worry about 
work and performance of daily duty may, in fact, 
vitiate the work and even deprive it of merit in the 
sight of God. We are told to work, but there is 
no injunction to worry. Restlessness and disturb¬ 
ance of soul are nowhere in Holy Scripture laid 
upon us as a duty. In fact, we are told to possess 
our souls in peace. Wretchedness and agony of 
mind are often said in Holy Writ to be the portion 
of the sinner, but not of the one who faithfully 
works at his appointed task. 

We see here a gentle invitation to work in peace 
of soul and even to find joy in work. Moses lead- 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


37 


ing the chosen people out of the land of Egypt, 
Isaias and Jeremias convincing them of their sins 
and infidelity, Paul preaching to the crowds 
gathered at the pagan shrines, Jesus at the car¬ 
penter’s bench in Nazareth — they all worked and 
strove in different ways — but worry and fret and 
despondency were not necessary accompaniments of 
the Divine Will which each one obeyed in his own 
manner. 

How often we allow useless worry and blight¬ 
ing thoughts of despondency to creep into our minds 
and cripple or vitiate our endeavors! What advan¬ 
tage is there in giving way to discouragement when 
it neither lifts our burden an inch, nor advances 
our work even one little bit towards completion. 
Worry takes the keen edge from the enjoyment 
which the normal person should find in work. For 
work, even work “ in the sweat of one’s brow,” con¬ 
duces to joy and satisfaction. The mandate given 
in Paradise does not forbid man to find comfort 
and peace in working either for one’s self or for 
others. 

Work with a “ pure intention ” and your work 
will meet with a two-fold prize: among men and 
in Heaven, The pictures representing Christ at the 


38 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


carpenter’s bench depict Him with a joyful, serene 
countenance. Christ understood the dignity of 
manual labor. Work from a sense of duty, work 
because this is the law of life and progress, work 
with a good motive and with peace of mind — and 
the ugly demon worry will find no abode with you. 

II. “ WORK AND PRAY ” 

“ V/ork and pray ”—is a maxim whose faithful 
observance has filled many a life with happiness, 
and rewarded it with a crown of glory celestial. 
It is a saying which guided the members of the 
monastic orders, who did so much for the spiritual 
and social welfare of European nations ever since 
the Middle Ages. Had they not been devoted to 
this twofold exercise, they would not have become 
such mighty forces for the spread of Christian cul¬ 
ture. But it was because the hands that were de¬ 
voted to rugged toil were frequently lifted up in 
prayer, that “ God gave the increase,” and blessed 
the efforts of the monks causing fruit a hundred¬ 
fold to spring from the labors of the religious 
brotherhoods. 

It is true that now-a-days we hear a good deal 
about the value of work. Long before an Ameri- 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


39 


can ex-President had sung the praises of the “ Stren¬ 
uous Life,” Carlyle had written down in memorable 
words, the stern duty of every man to work to the 
best of his ability. “ Blessed is the man who has 
found his work; let him ask no greater blessing.” 

But there is no doubt that work joined with 
prayer, or work lifted up to a higher sphere by the 
“ good intention,” will have more value before God. 
“ Prayerful ” work never missed its reward. Who 
has not heard of the famous Indian Reductions of 
Paraguay? The story has often been told how 
the savages had been gradually weaned from their 
wild life in the forest and mountains, and brought 
to the settled life of the plains and the pampas by 
the good example of their spiritual guides, who 
taught them to join work and prayer. The savages 
now began to lay out fields and orchards. Every 
hour had its appointed task, for both young and 
old. The bell never failed to ring for prayer after 
the day’s work. It also rang at intervals during the 
day’s toil. Who will say that this exercise of hand 
and heart was misplaced? Who will deny that it 
was richly blessed? The “ Reductions ” were a 
model community, solidly established in social peace 
and industrial prosperity. But then envy, and 


40 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


hatred of the name of God, began their devastating 
work. The enemies of Christ broke in upon this 
happy domain and rudely swept away the fruit of 
toil and prayer. 

“Work and pray”—both exercises are equally 
good, equally noble and important. But when the 
limbs refuse to respond as actively as in the days 
of youth to the call of duty, when the fatigue of 
old age has set in, and the weakening of bodily 
forces has begun — even then, you may work and 
pray. For prayer welling up from a simple heart, 
fervent and persevering prayer, is work; it is work 
for the common good, for God’s Church, for all the 
faithful, for all mankind. 

“ Ora et labora ”—write these words before you 
and heed their gentle message. For they are a 
message coming to you from the great ones of the 
Heavenly City. It comes to you from the sainted 
men and women who toiled through life’s fitful 
fever, and from those who achieved the blessed re¬ 
ward of days well-spent for God and man. 

12. WE ARE CREATURES OF GOD 

One of the great mistakes in the religious life 
of to-day is that men forget the fact that they are 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


4i 


creatures — and that, as creatures, they owe 
obedience to God, their sovereign master. The 
modern world loves to speak of “ emancipation,” 
and refers with pity to the men of mediaeval days, 
who were “ held in subjection to authority ” and 
who slavishly obeyed “ the mandates of a tyran¬ 
nic church.” But frequently this glorious word 
“ emancipation ” thinly disguises a riotous and sin¬ 
ful life, lived according to the suggestion of man’s 
lower nature which has violently broken with the 
law of God and risen in rebellion against His 
authority. The cry “ emancipation ” is merely an 
artificial covering for their sinful lives and for their 
shameful abandonment to another but more vicious 
subjection, a subjection to their lower nature and 
their sensuous inclinations. 

Every violent uprising against the law of God 
is diametrically opposed to all the teachings of the 
Gospel. It is true that the sin of pride and the 
rebellion of man against God go back to the 
beginning of time. For by pride the angels fell, 
and lost their privilege as children of God. Yet it 
is especially in our own time that men, and women 
too, have tried to emancipate themselves both from 
the law of God and from the voice of conscience. 


42 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


The rebellious challenge “ non serviam ”— I will 
not serve — has been uttered especially in our own 
times by misguided souls, who have risen in re¬ 
bellion against God and His Divine Son, against the 
Church of Christ, against the moral law which has 
the sanction of the ages. 

The false and pernicious doctrine that we are 
self-sufficient in all things, that we need not the 
help of grace, that we have become emancipated 
from obedience to the unseen Creator has been 
preached even by so-called “ religious ” leaders. 
But their principles and their message lead to moral 
destruction and ruin and to the ultimate degradation 
of society. The proud philosophers and free¬ 
thinkers who lived prior to the French Revolution 
proclaimed the theory of the self-sufficiency of man 
and they waged a relentless war upon Christ and 
His Church. “ Crush the Church ”— was their 
hideous war-cry. And as a direct result of the 
abominable teaching that man is autonomous and 
all-sufficient in the regulation of his moral life, that 
he need acknowledge no God, and that humility is 
a virtue only for children and the unenlightened, 
one of the fairest countries of Europe was deluged 


LIFE’S WARFARE 


43 

with the blood of some of her noblest sons and 
daughters. 

The cry “We are emancipated from God,” “ we 
cast to the winds any law and authority not spring¬ 
ing from ourselves,” is likewise heard in the camp 
of those “ social reformers ” who are trying to 
“ uplift ” man, as they say, and to bring about a 
nobler and happier era, without insisting on a reno¬ 
vation of the life of the soul. People might well 
give heed to the warning frequently uttered by the 
Rev. Doctor H. C. Potter, the late Protestant 
Episcopal Bishop of New York, who consistently 
held that the beginning of all social progress must 
be in the soul of the individual, and hence that the 
world can become better, only as individuals consent 
to become better. 

In spite of these warnings, however, certain men 
have been trying “ reform ” without God, for nearly 
a century. As a consequence, mankind is as far as 
ever from the blessed goal of universal peace and 
good will, and mutual forbearance and charity. 
How can these unfortunate reformers elevate the 
unworthy and the sinful and the degraded, how can 
they raise to a higher plane the ideas and aspira- 


44 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


tions of moral lepers and perverts by telling them 
that they need not mind the voice of conscience, that 
they need obey neither Christ nor His law, neither 
His Church nor any so-called ministers who preach 
in His name? Does not history itself teach us that 
moral force comes from above, and that man left 
to himself, is soon degraded and loses the last ves¬ 
tige of those virtues which lift him above the brute 
creation ? 

The doctrine that man is free from obligation to 
the unseen Deity is preached in much of the sensa¬ 
tional literature of to-day. But, unfortunately, 
sometimes men of great literary talent have like¬ 
wise belittled the fact that all men are creatures 
of God, that they are made in His image, that to 
Him alone they owe obedience and that to Him they 
will be responsible for the conduct of their lives. 

It is much to be deplored by all right-minded 
men that in an age which stands in sore need of 
greater respect for authority, such false teachers 
and preachers and writers foment discord and dis¬ 
satisfaction. Their theory —“ every man a law to 
himself — no need of subjection to authority, 
human or divine ” must produce pernicious results. 
One of our popular magazine writers, Walter Lipp- 


LIFE'S WARFARE 


45 


man, of New York, thinks that the appeal to the 
higher law or to authority is out of date. He 
seems to be certain of only one thing — that the 
principle of authority can never be restored and 
that the Rock of ages has been removed from man's 
past. 

It is not necessary to point out the effects of these 
false teachings and unsound doctrines. They are 
apparent everywhere. A painful fact, which the 
press of the country has been bringing home to us 
with great insistence, is the deplorable increase of 
crime during the last few years. It can be shown 
that a great deal of the social discontent, a great 
deal even of this crime and breaking of laws, may 
be traced to those teachings which proclaim to our 
people that they are a law to themselves, and that 
they are not responsible for their every act to God 
their Creator. 

13. THE LESSON OF THE ROOD 

One of the first pious practices taught the 
Catholic child is “ making the sign of the cross.” 
The good Christian mother takes infinite pains to 
train the baby hands to form the symbol of salva¬ 
tion and to teach the baby lips how to utter with 


46 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


becoming reverence the accompanying invocation 
to the Holy Trinity. And the mother rejoices when 
after all these pains the infant can succeed in making 
unaided that holy sign which is to become to him 
a sweet symbol and a strong protection in after 
years. 

And it is proper that parental care should be de¬ 
voted to training the children in the making of this 
blessed sign, and to teaching them its deep signifi¬ 
cance. Symbols and ceremonies play an important 
part in our Catholic worship — much more among 
us than among the sects separated from the unity 
of the Church of Christ. But it is meet and just 
that these ceremonies and rites and rubrics — all of 
which are full of deep meaning and mystic content 
— should accompany our praise and service and 
worship of the Most High. For in the Old Law 
God Himself commanded such rites, and the 
prophets and law-givers insisted on their observ¬ 
ance. It is true that the Old Law possessed a multi¬ 
tude of minute liturgical rules and observances 
which were abolished in the New Dispensation. In 
the New Law sanctification was to be purchased, not 
so much by the faithful observance of liturgies as 
by a devout disposition of the heart, cooperation 





LIFE’S WARFARE 


47 


with the grace of Christ, and by the proper recep¬ 
tion of the Sacraments. But yet no one dare say 
that exterior rites and ceremonies are of no avail 
in the interior and spiritual life. For they are in 
fact, to those who observe them rightly, to those 
who understand them thoroughly and practice them 
in a spirit of reverence, helps to greater sanctity. 

All this is especially true of the rood — the sweet 
symbod of salvation, the Cross sanctified and en¬ 
nobled forevermore by the death of the world’s Re¬ 
deemer. How much does the Cross not mean to 
all Christians? The Cross has inspired some of the 
mediaeval singers to compose hymns which are still 
a cherished possession of the Church and whose 
triumphant strains still accompany our worship. 
“ O Crux, Ave, Spes Unica ” is the joyful and 
reverent greeting of one of these mediaeval singers 
—“ Hail, Cross, our only hope!” And is it not 
true? Has not the Salvation of the world hung on 
the Cross? Does not the Church say of the Cross: 
“ In quo salus mundi pependit ”—“ On which hung 
the Salvation of the world ” ? 

The lesson of the rood, the Cross of Christ! 
Who can adequately tell what it means for the 
Christian soul in this valley of tears ? What would 


48 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


those in distress do without the lesson of the Cross 
of Christ? How explain the problem of human 
suffering without the rood of Golgotha? How 
give hope to the sinner, consolation to the afflicted, 
courage to the dying, without the Crucifix? What 
sign or symbol can ever replace that blessed Cross, 
which now is a guide to the Christian way-farer 
through the weariness of his earthly pilgrimage up¬ 
wards to the heavenly city? The Cross indeed was 
once a sign of shame and contempt. On it were 
nailed in the pagan times great malefactors. But 
the Christ, the Son of the Living God, has en¬ 
nobled that sign of ignominy. His name lends hope 
and strength and joy and heavenly comfort to what 
was in heathen days the synonym of wretchedness 
and contempt. It has become to the devout 
Christian soul the glorious symbol of hope, of 
triumph, of victory over sin and the powers of 
darkness. 

It is in this symbol that every soul is first incor¬ 
porated into the Church, the mystic body of Christ. 
For we are baptized with the Sign of the Cross 
in the name of the Father and the Son and the 
Holy Ghost. The chrism of salvation is placed 
on the forehead in Confirmation under the sign of 




LIFE’S WARFARE 


49 


the Cross. In the great tribunal of reconciliation 
with God, His minister imparts the forgiveness by 
forming over the penitent the sign of salvation, 
while speaking at the same time the words of abso¬ 
lution. The Bread of Life is broken to the 
Christian soul after the priest has made with it the 
sign of the Cross. 

We may draw a few practical lessons from the 
fact that the blessed cross holds such a distinguished 
place in our worship. Do we honor that sacred 
symbol? Have we a picture of the Cross of Christ, 
or a Crucifix in our homes? Are we ashamed to 
form that holy symbol when according to 
pious custom it is reverently made? The Cross 
is the badge of the Christian soldier. And should 
we then not reverence it and hold it in the highest 
honor? The Crucifix was, as some saints tell us, 
their “ chief book.” That is, it was to them a com¬ 
pendium of the Christian’s life on earth. For is 
it not our main duty to imitate Christ — by fol¬ 
lowing Him along the royal way of the Cross? 
That way alone leads to victory. Hence St. 
Francis Xavier wished to die poor and forsaken for 
the sake of his master — yet one possession he 
wanted to take with him as he went forward to meet 


So THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

his Saviour face to face. It was the Crucifix 
which spoke to him of Christ who had redeemed 
his soul from sin. With the Cross before us dur¬ 
ing the days of our earthly pilgrimage, with our 
eyes fixed on the holy rood during our last mo¬ 
ments, we, too, may go forward confidently to meet 
our Redeemer, our Saviour, Who purchased for us 
salvation on the Cross. 




II. OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


14. THE CATECHISM 

We are living in an age of compendiums, hand¬ 
books, and “ short cuts ” to learning. Information 
in various spheres of science, art, literature and 
philosophy is compressed into manuals for the 
handy use of the seeker after knowledge. 

Such books assuredly serve a useful purpose. 
They save much time and readily bring to the grasp 
of the inquirer the conclusions of authorities in the 
world of scholarship. 

But have you ever called to mind that every child 
in our Catholic schools is presented with a con¬ 
venient summary of knowledge and conclusions on 
questions of the greatest moment to every human 
being? This book is the Catechism. It is one of 
the most useful compendiums of wisdom and true 
enlightenment. For it informs the mind on eternal 
things, it contains statements and declarations about 
truths which never pass away, it propounds doc¬ 
trines as lasting as the adamantine hills. 

51 


52 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


The Catholic child does not merely con and 
“ learn by heart” the answers in the Catechism. 
The book is thoroughly explained in the class-room. 
Its terms and expressions, some of which are seldom 
used in ordinary speech, are defined. Questions 
concerning the doctrine set forth and the truths 
proposed are answered by the teacher. The Cate¬ 
chism is taken up frequently during the week, for 
experience has shown that this precious book, if well 
thumbed and studied during school days, will prove 
a precious help and a strong support in after life. 
It will be a guide when doubts arise, when tempta¬ 
tion beats upon the young heart, when the whispers 
of evil companions strive to turn the youth into the 
paths leading down to the shadows of death. 

But what is most wonderful about this book is the 
solidity of its teaching, the fact that its conclu¬ 
sions are accepted by the millions, and that it is the 
result of the keenest speculations on the things of 
God, on Faith, on Religion, on the higher and 
eternal life, on virtue and the necessity of clean and 
upright living. The Catechism is published in 
many languages, it is constructed on many plans and 
it may develop its lessons according to various prin¬ 
ciples. But ever and always it is the same grand 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


53 


universal and unshakable body of teaching taught 
by the Church, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. 
What an inspiring thought this is, in an age so 
changing and changeable as ours, when ethical 
theories are constructed to-day to be rejected to¬ 
morrow, when so-called teachers of the higher life 
spend their efforts in striking at the law of God, 
and in “ blasting at the rock of ages! ” 

The Catechism is not only a book of supreme 
knowledge for young and old, for rich and poor, 
for saint and sinner. It is a book of power. It 
contains the strongest and most convincing appeal 
for righteousness. It presents this proof not in the 
wild shrieking fashion of the half-crazed gospeler, 
but in the calm light of reason, supported by the 
utterances of Divine Wisdom. 

“ Literature of power,” says De Quincey, “ never 
dies.” The Catechism, as a book of Christian 
doctrine, as a compend of Christian faith and 
morality, and as a book of power, will never be¬ 
come out of date. It will never be replaced by a 
newer, better and simpler book of inspiration and 
spiritual uplift. As long as the world lasts, the sad 
old fashion of sin and sorrow, of unbelief and slimy 
temptation will be with us, and so long, too, will the 


54 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


Catechism bear a needed message of strength and 
hope to the wanderer through life’s pilgrimage. 

15. THE VALUE OF PRAYER 

We do not recall as often as we should that in 
fervent and persevering prayer we have a potent 
means of obtaining necessary graces. We are apt 
to lead purely natural lives and to overlook the fact 
that to secure help in troubles of the soul we need 
not so much the courage and strength that come 
from creatures, but rather the assistance of Divine 
Grace. But, as just said, this is most readily se¬ 
cured by prayer. 

The words in St. Matthew, “ Seek and you shall 
find, and “ all things whatsoever you shall ask in 
prayer, believing, you shall receive,” are certainly 
very explicit. They need no long explanation. 
Our Lord simply says “ ask ” and faith tells us we 
shall “ receive.” 

We must, of course, bear in mind that through 
want of foresight, or because we are blinded by pas¬ 
sion or self-interest, or impelled by unworthy mo¬ 
tives, we may pray for something that is not best 
for our soul s welfare. God has not promised to 
hear such a petition. Indeed, it would not be con- 


JOUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


55 


sistent with His Providence and Wisdom to do so. 

Our Lord has given us the example of persever¬ 
ing prayer. St. Matthew tells us “ He went up into 
a mountain alone to pray, and when it was evening. 
He was there alone.” St. Luke adds, “ He passed 
the whole night in the prayer of God.” The private 
and public life of the Saviour was above all a life of 
prayer. 

It is, no doubt, in imitation of this example of the 
Son of God that the Saints were devoted to prayer. 
They have left us some most consoling words con¬ 
cerning the power of humble prayer. Without 
frequent recourse to this ready weapon they would 
not have persevered in God’s grace and friendship. 
Perseverance in prayer meant for them perseverance 
in the state of sanctifying grace and the securing of 
the crown of everlasting life. 

St. Alphonsus Ligouri goes so far as to say that 
he who prays is saved, he who prays not, is lost. 
These words, too, are explained readily enough. 
For if we must pray for strength to overcome 
grievous temptation, that is, temptation to mortal 
sin, and if Christ tells us that if we ask, we shall 
receive, it is plain that with prayer we shall find 
the power to resist that temptation. But if we pray 


56 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


not, the chances are that nature or passion or the 
force of evil habit may prove too strong, and plunge 
the soul in mortal sin and thus endanger its salva¬ 
tion. For does not our Lord warn us in the words 
of St. John: “ Without me you can do nothing”? 
These words mean that without Him we can do 
nothing in the Spiritual order, nothing for the soul’s 
salvation. 

Even in the Old Law we find a strong proof of 
the value and power of faithful prayer. When the 
Israelites were leaving Egypt they encountered their 
old enemy, King Amalec. The King engaged them 
in battle and Moses went up to a hill to pray for his 
people. “ And when Moses lifted up his hands, 
Israel overcame: but if he let them down a little, 
Amalec overcame.” And so two men were sent up 
to support the hands of Moses while in prayer. 
And then the chosen people conquered their foe. It 
was then not so much by the might of arms as by the 
power of prayer that victory was secured. 

These few thoughts about the value of prayer 
should console those who, through age or sickness, 
or for some other reason, cannot engage in strenu¬ 
ous work for God and cannot perform other 
arduous sacrifices, or attend all the services of the 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


57 


Church. They can at least pray. They can pray 
for themselves, for others, for our missions, for the 
whole flock of Christ. This prayer will never be in 
vain. Christ Himself said so. Those who engage 
in it are doing much in the upbuilding of Christ’s 
Kingdom. They are practicing a noble duty, whose 
vast importance He Himself taught by example. 
Prayer brings down blessings upon all the people, 
blessings ten-fold or a hundred-fold, depending 
upon the fervor, sincerity, confidence and persever- 
ence of the one who prays. 

1 6. THE BENEDICTION OF THE BLESSED 
SACRAMENT 

A young man once set out in great haste from 
a western city of our country to reach New York in 
time to receive the blessing of his (lying father. He 
had not seen him for many years. But he wished 
to hear a last word of consolation and forgiveness 
from the aged parent who was soon to close his 
eyes in death. 

This was a most worthy desire of the youth, and 
we do not wonder that he forgot all else in his 
eagerness to get back to his father’s house and ob¬ 
tain a final blessing. But the children of the Church 


58 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


can so often receive the blessing of their Father 
and Saviour Christ, and yet, so many neglect the 
opportunity. At our Benediction service Christ our 
Lord is exposed to our adoration and wishes to bless 
us all before we depart from His holy temple. And 
often so few are present to receive this token of His 
love. Many there are who pass by on the avenue 
or boulevard, just outside the church, but they think 
not of entering and of assisting at the Benediction 
service where they may be made glad with the 
precious gift of Christ’s own blessing. 

Why is this? Many of the faithful may say they 
have no time; others* may allege that they are tired 
on Sunday evening and wish to stay at home; others 
again think that by attending Mass in the morning 
they have fulfilled all their obligations towards God. 
These excuses may perhaps be quite sufficient in 
some cases, but Catholics often stay away from 
Benediction simply because they fail to realize the 
solemn meaning of this beautiful service. 

It is Christ Himself who blesses the assembled 
faithful with His own adorable Body, by the hands 
of His minister. It is His great love for the chil¬ 
dren of the Church that prompts Him to come forth 
from the tabernacle and to allow the sacred sign 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


59 

of salvation to be made over those present. How 
lonely our churches would be, had we not the per¬ 
petual, inspiring presence of the King of kings on 
our altars! We would then be deprived of our 
greatest treasure, our surest hope, the source of all 
spiritual strength and refreshment. Perhaps then 
even the very personality of Christ would become 
dim and distant, perhaps even distorted. We would 
indeed still possess the Gospel accounts of His life 
and teachings. But how have those religious 
bodies, that no longer have the Eucharistic Lord and 
Master, dealt with the historic character of Christ? 
His teaching is misinterpreted, His miracles ex¬ 
plained away, and His divinity is often denied. 

But during every Benediction service Catholics 
implicitly voice the sublime confession of the blessed 
apostle Peter: “ Thou art the Christ the Son of 

the living God.” For it is only because He is God 
that we kneel down in humble adoration when He 
is lifted up in the monstrance to bestow heavenly 
blessings. It is only because He is the Son of the 
living God that we make the acts of reparation at 
the end of the service, and ask Him to accept our 
allegiance. At every Benediction service therefore 
we are reminded of one of the cardinal truths of 


6 o 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


our precious faith — the Divinity of Christ the Son 
of God. 

No wonder that some of the greatest luminaries 
of the Church have composed undying hymns of 
praise in honor of the “ Great Sacrament.” The 
“ Tantum ergo Sacramentum ” is the matchless 
Benediction hymn of the Church, chanted in all lands 
in honor of the Eucharistic King, and one of the 
most famous of mediaeval Latin hymns. In the 
versicle and response sung after the sacramental 
hymn this holy Sacrament is rightly called “ the 
Bread of Heaven, containing all sweetness.” In the 
other Benediction hymn, our Lord is addressed as 
“ O Saving Host, opening for us the gates of 
Heaven.” 

These expressions show the veneration the great 
saints had for the Sacrament of the altar. When 
you assist at Benediction you have an opportunity 
of joining in this solemn chorus of praise in honor 
of the august Sacrament, the Bread of Angels. 
Should you not consider it a high privilege to be 
present at this service from which you may go forth 
with the blessing of the great King upon you? 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


61 


17. THE MASS 

Unusual privileges and blessings that have been 
enjoyed for a long time easily lose their value to 
those sharing them. They are gradually accepted as 
a matter of course. Is there not danger that this 
may be the case also in the spiritual life and as re¬ 
gards the fine gifts of God? We have so many ad¬ 
vantages and blessings in the spiritual order and 
they come to us so readily that we may be tempted to 
disregard their value and wonderful significance. 
Every day, throughout Christendom, the holy sacri¬ 
fice of the Mass is offered on countless altars. It is 
celebrated in the magnificent cathedral and in the 
little country church; in the populous city and in the 
lonely hamlet. We dare say that often, very often 
indeed, the dwellers near by pay little heed to the 
holy mysteries celebrated on these altars. Many 
Catholics, strange to say, find no time, no disposi¬ 
tion, no motive urging them on to enter the church 
or chapel on week-days and assist at the solemnity. 
Why is this? One reason may have already been 
given. The Mass, if the expression may be 
pardoned, has become something commonplace. It 
is of every-day occurrence. And so it is nothing 


62 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

unusual and nothing remarkable to many of the 
faithful. 

But let us reason for a moment. Can things of 
eternal significance ever lose their value ? Does the 
gift of God become less useful and less precious be¬ 
cause it is so freely offered to us? The Mass is 
the renewal of the adorable sacrifice of Christ, the 
Son of God, on Golgotha. His blessed death on the 
Rood brought in a new era for the children of men, 
the era of love, when we may all say: “ Abba, 

Father.’ , For by the Cross on Calvary sin was 
taken away, our bonds were broken, and man once 
more became a child of God. Then God became 
indeed our Father to whom we may now have access 
on account of the death and redeeming work of His 
well-beloved Son. These gracious memories are 
renewed at every Holy Mass. Christ, our Saviour, 
offers Himself anew for the sins of men in the obla¬ 
tion of the altar. 

How, then, can the Holy Mass be shorn of its 
tremendous power and consequences because it is 
offered up daily “ from the rising to the setting of 
the sun ? ” Let us meditate at times on these sub¬ 
lime truths. Time was, in the days gone by, when 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 63 

you went to Mass every day. It was when the heart 
was young, when you attended the Catholic school. 
Presence at Mass then, assuredly, did not seem a 
burden to you. You were told of its meaning for 
the Christian wayfarer through life. The Mass, 
you were taught, brought you many blessings. You 
were privileged to kneel in the adorable presence of 
your Saviour. You saw Him lifted up for your 
comfort and healing by the hands of the priest. 
The same graces and spiritual favors still reward 
the devout assistance at the hallowed sacrifice. 

The Mass is a reparation for sin, for individual 
sin. It may be offered as a petition for grace. 
You may also use it as an occasion to thank your 
God for favors received. You may be present at it 
to fulfill the duty imposed upon all of us of prais¬ 
ing God. It may be offered for the living and for 
the dead. May not these simple thoughts help you 
to a new resolve of attending more frequently on 
week-days at this holy sacrifice which was fore¬ 
shadowed far back in the morning of time by the 
sacrifice of Melchisedech, and is now daily renewed 
for the hope and uplift of the children of the Church 
militant? 


64 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


l8. THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS 

Many of us do not appreciate the consoling 
message brought home by that article of the Creed 
which reads: “ I believe in the Communion of 

Saints.” This part of our belief reminds us of the 
close union that exists at this moment between the 
three vast empires of the Church of God — on earth, 
in Heaven, in Purgatory. The souls that belong 
to these three empires are well-nigh innumerable 
and yet they are interested in one another’s welfare 
and happiness, and try to promote one another’s 
well-being. 

Such is the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. 
We may remember, perhaps, what an impression the 
teaching made upon us when we first learned it from 
the Catechism. We were told that the saints of 
God in Heaven were related to us because they be¬ 
longed to the great family of which we too were 
members. They had already finished the good fight 
and had departed to the kingdom where there will 
be no more toil and pain and struggle. And it was 
likewise said that other souls whom we once knew, 
and who are now no more, might be helped by us. 
These were the children of the Church Suffering in 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 65 

Purgatory. No doubt, the teaching made a great 
impression on us at the time. 

But we might not have been told one very im¬ 
portant fact regarding the Communion of Saints. 
This is that the society and relationship, and mutual 
regard of those souls for one another, have lasted 
through nineteen centuries. There have been other 
organizations of men on earth which endured for 
a long time. But gradually owing to lack of interest 
on the part of the more distinguished members, or 
on account of the death of a ruler, or through dissen¬ 
sion or warfare, these unions and kingdoms ceased 
to exist. They lacked the vital, permanent bond, 
a bond which the roll of the centuries could not 
break, and which the going and coming of men 
could not dissolve. 

Here, then, is an inspiring thought concerning 
the Communion of Saints; it is a union of immortal 
souls, more numerous than those belonging to any 
other society or organization, and it will endure to 
the end of time. As long as precious souls are to be 
gained for the Kingdom of Christ — so long will 
the triple kingdom endure. Now what has made 
this great spiritual kingdom invincible in the wreck 
of ages, and what has lent it its strength to outlast 


66 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


the dissolution of earthly realms ? It is the fact that 
Christ’s kingdom is built on the greatest motive 
power that can influence man — on the enduring 
principle of love. It was His one desire to sanctify 
men and to lift them up to the dignity of children 
of God, and finally to admit them to the beatific 
vision. For this high and holy purpose He founded 
His empire. 

Earthly kingdoms, however, have all too often 
been builded on the unstable foundation of force 
and tyranny, on the doctrine that might is right. 
They were sometimes erected on the bodies and 
blood of men who were forced to fight and lay down 
their lives that others might gain the glory of con¬ 
quest. How different the kingdom of the God-man, 
the Church of Christ composed of the three vast 
divisions of souls — all of them called to the same 
blessed and eternal inheritance. The teaching con¬ 
cerning the Communion of Saints is one of the 
many strong and inspiring helps proffered by 
Mother Church to her children who are still on the 
rugged upward path to the City Eternal. 

19. DEVOUT ASPIRATIONS 

Have you ever taken note of the fact that the 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 67 

Church has not only provided for her children the 
larger devotions, such as the Way of the Cross, 
the devotion to the Sacred Heart, to the Virgin 
Mother, but has also given us beautiful short 
prayers and aspirations. We should often use the 
latter, for they not only remind us of certain truths 
of our faith, but in themselves they are consoling 
and uplifting, and their devout use is sometimes en¬ 
riched with indulgences. 

What a more becoming greeting than the one 
which our children are taught to use when their 
pastor enters the class-room: “Praised be Jesus 
Christ.” Christ Himself is the greatest teacher and 
guide of youth. He takes special care of the little 
ones of His flock. He blesses those who honor His 
holy Name. He desires that due respect be shown 
to His ministers. Hence is it not appropriate that 
the children, who are brought up in His name, 
should early become familiar with that holy greet¬ 
ing? Those who reverently speak the praises of 
that holy Name shall experience, in the word of 
St. Bernard, that the sweet name of Jesus “ gives 
true joy to the heart.” 

Sometimes we are recipients of some unusual 
grace or favor. Why should we not give thanks to 


68 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


Him from Whom all blessings flow! We have such 
a short and efficacious formula of thanks, approved 
by the Church and daily used in the liturgy of the 
Holy Mass. It is the aspiration: “ Deo gratias ” 

—“ thanks be to God.” Our Lord loves a prayer of 
thanksgiving. When He had healed the lepers and 
when only one returned after the miraculous cure to 
give thanks, He mildly asked: “ Where are the 

other nine?” But the saints used this pious ejacu¬ 
lation even when trials and misfortune befell them. 
They saw in these calamities Providence and the 
chastising hand of God. It would be well for us, 
too, to look upon crosses and adversities that befall 
us in the course of life’s pilgrimage as sweet tokens 
of His special love for us. This sensible view of 
crosses and sufferings will put cheer and comfort 
into our hearts and enable us to bear up manfully 
under the burden. Hence even when the cup of 
affliction is pressed to our lips we may well say 
“ Deo gratias.” 

When we begin some task in the course of the 
day we can insure its success, at least from the stand¬ 
point of supernatural merit, in no better way than 
by the pious aspiration authorized and sanctified by 
scriptural authority: “ In nomine Domini ”—“ in 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 69 

the name of the Lord.” Not only large and ap¬ 
parently important works and undertakings of vast 
consequence may thus be hallowed and sanctified 
by invoking the sweet name of the Lord, but even 
our every-day toil and our round of ordinary 
duties. The consciousness that we are working 
not for human glory or for the vain applause of 
the multitude, but for the sake of the Lord Christ 
will lend courage and inspiration when weariness is 
about to overtake us. 

There is nothing so helpful to the Christian en¬ 
gaged in the spiritual combat than a brief and 
efficacious appeal for help and pardon. And the 
Church like a gracious mother whispers to him 
this salutary orison: “ My Jesus, mercy!” We 
know that the use of this petition has been recom¬ 
mended by the greatest saints of the Church. We 
all stand in need of mercy and forgiveness. In the 
dark hour of need and temptation and bitter con¬ 
flict with the powers of evil let us say, but say with 
hope and confidence, “ My Jesus, mercy! ” 

When we are about to answer the last great call 
and take our place in the vast army of the silent 
dead, we are once more taught a supplication, sur¬ 
passing in strength and holiness. It is: “Jesus, 


70 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


Mary and Joseph!” After we have praised the 
name of the Lord during life, after we have given 
thanks for both the blessings and crosses that have 
been our portion, after we have received mercy and 
the hope of pardon from Jesus, how appropriate 
that in that last great hour, we should invoke Jesus, 
the Saviour, Mary our mother, and Joseph, the pa¬ 
tron of a happy death? Verily, we are abundantly 
blessed in the multitude of these pious aspirations, 
which the Church recommends for our use during 
the course of life’s pilgrimage. 

20. OUR LITURGICAL HYMNS 

In his “ Chapters in European History,” Mr. W. 
S. Lilly says: “ Not the least important chapter 

in European history is written in the hymns of the 
Christian Church.” Other writers and scholars, 
even those not of our faith, have often commented 
upon the beauties and splendid meaning of these 
Latin hymns which form such an important part of 
our liturgy. 

These hymns are an embodiment of the spirit, 
the life, the faith, the hope, the aspirations of the 
Middle Ages. They have been translated again and 
again into different modern languages and of some 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


7 1 

of them there exists more than a score of different 
versions. 

The private use of liturgical hymns very probably 
preceded their public use in the churches. For St. 
Jerome says that those who in his day went into the 
fields might hear “ the plowman at his hallelujahs, 
the mower at his hymns, and the vine-dresser sing¬ 
ing David’s psalms.” 

Concerning these mediaeval hymns a recent writer 
has said: “ It is to be regretted that we have for¬ 

gotten in these late days that the fundamental func¬ 
tion of the knees is kneeling. The reason is clear, 
however. Kneeling is a manifestation of the emo¬ 
tions, and to-day it is hardly good taste to show 
emotion. ... Now the spirit of the mediaeval 
hymn is the spirit of kneeling, the spirit of adora¬ 
tion.” This is true of all our great hymns, and 
more especially of the two sublime sacramental 
hymns — The Tantum Ergo and the O Salutaris 
Hostia. 

St. Hilary of Poitiers, who died 369, first intro¬ 
duced such hymns into the public worship of the 
Church. After him, St. Ambrose, the great Bishop 
of Milan, devoted his literary talent to the writing 
of Latin hymns for liturgical purposes. His chants 


72 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


may be regarded as the beginning of Christian 
poetry in the West. Sublime religious truths, ex¬ 
pressed in austere simplicity but in majestic form, 
are the subject of the hymns of this learned doctor 
of the Church. Ambrose found many imitators, 
and a vast number of hymns was composed, not all 
of which, however, were honored by being intro¬ 
duced into the liturgy of the Church. Seven of 
these are often collectively called “ the greatest 
mediaeval Latin hymns.” They are the Laus 
Patriae Coelestis, Veni Creator Spiritus, Veni Sancte 
Spiritus, Dies Irae, Stabat Mater, the Alleluja Se¬ 
quence, and Vexilla Regis. 

The two most celebrated classes of these composi¬ 
tions — works which have exercised the talents of 
the greatest musical composers and of translators 
into almost all languages, are the Dies Irae (That 
Day of Wrath, that Dreadful Day) composed 
probably by Thomas of Celano, the companion and 
biographer of St. Francis of Assisi, and the Stabat 
Mater Dolorosa (By the Cross Sad Vigil Keep¬ 
ing), often ascribed to Jacopone da Todi, a member 
of the Franciscan brotherhood. 

After the two sacramental hymns, those best 
known and very often heard in our churches, are 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


73 


the two Pentecostal hymns — the Veni, Creator 
Spiritus, and the Veni, Sancte Spiritus. Of the 
former there are about sixty versions in English 
and it has sometimes been called “ the most famous 
of hymns.” The latter has been styled the “ Golden 
Sequence.” For “ it is above all praise, because 
of its wondrous sweetness, clarity of style, pleasant 
brevity combined with wealth of thought, so that 
every line is a sentence.” 

We have, then, in these sacred hymns an element 
which lends a precious charm to our liturgical ser¬ 
vices, especially to the Solemn High Mass, and to 
the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. In her 
frequent use of these hymns the Church shows her¬ 
self the patron of art and the fruitful mother of the 
sublimest sentiments that can well up from the 
heart of man. May not these glorious hymns be 
looked upon as a faint echo of the everlasting ho¬ 
sannas sung in the City Celestial to the glory of the 
Eternal God? 


21. THE SPIRIT OF FAITH 

The lack of faith, of religious faith, of faith in 
the lasting worth and value of virtuous, God-fear¬ 
ing lives is responsible for much of the unrest and 


74 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


dissatisfaction among people to-day. Many per¬ 
sons attach too much importance to mere external 
success, to worldly pomp and circumstance, to the 
work and position that bring them into public notice 
and cause them to be regarded as greater and more 
distinguished than their fellowmen. They forget 
that the “ average man ” may also put spirit and a 
splendid energy and wholeheartedness into his 
every-days tasks, which lend them a value and 
beauty, that shallow minds fail to see. Those on 
the other hand who always strive for the empty 
prizes of life, for the notice of men, and the glitter 
that for a brief space accompanies “ success,” may 
after a little while, be cast back upon themselves, be 
slighted by their friends and be bereft of the ap¬ 
plause that once soothed their vain ambition. For 
uncertain and fickle is the frivolous world in the 
rewards dealt out to its votaries. 

Persons, deceived by the gloss and notoriety that 
sometimes accompany the vain strivings of world¬ 
lings, are apt to forget the value of little things 
well done and performed with a worthy purpose or 
intention. There are but few careers that most of 
the time keep men in the full glare of public favor 
and approval. For to almost all persons life is, 


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75 


after all, composed of a series of humdrum duties, 
of a succession of seemingly unimportant tasks. 
Whether it be the artist in his studio, the captain 
of industry in his office, the toiler in the workshop, 
or the mother in her home — the lives of these must 
be made successful by the wise use of the flying 
moments. Not one moment of itself is great or 
resplendent. It is rather the sum and collective 
value of these moments, well spent in little things, 
that lend dignity and distinction to human lives. 

This is especially true of work performed by the 
toiler in the workshop and of the lives of the poor 
and humble of Christ’s flock. These should re¬ 
member that people of their class generally rate 
their work not too high, but too low. They ought 
to recall that in their labor there is not only bodily 
effort but soul effort, something spiritual and 
higher, that cannot be rewarded with money alone. 
Yea, they ought to bear in mind that as soon as 
to the bodily work there is added the good inten¬ 
tion, the value of the work grows into infinity, and 
that from this moment it bears its best reward with¬ 
in itself, ennobled by the consciousness that it is per¬ 
formed not in the service of man, but in the ser¬ 
vice of the highest Lord and Creator of all things. 


76 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

This value and reward depend ultimately upon the 
worker himself and not upon exterior conditions. 
And upon him, too, it will depend, to what degree 
his work, in virtue of this intrinsic value, shall exert 
a liberating, uplifting, wholesome and beneficial ef¬ 
fect upon himself. 

The life of our Blessed Mother teaches us the 
beauty and surpassing excellence of the spirit of 
faith. Her life was ever energized by faith. 
Hence she performed all her actions, howsoever 
lowly and obscure, illumined by the spirit of faith. 
She knew that the faithful performance of these 
obscure and ordinary tasks rendered her pleasing 
to her Divine Son and to the Eternal Father. The 
Fathers of the Church regard her as preeminently 
the type of faith. She was the lowly maid of Judea 
and yet she sang that inspiring canticle, the Magnif¬ 
icat, which tells of her own greatness, that 
canticle which has resounded for nigh two thousand 
years, accompanied by all the beauty and solemnity 
of our Catholic liturgy in the great Cathedrals of 
Europe as well as in the humble village church, 
— that canticle which tells of her surpassing dignity 
among all the daughters of Eve. And how dared 
that little humble maid, she who fled from the sight 


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of men, and who was found at prayer in her abode 
by the heavenly messenger coming to announce her 
dignity as the Mother of the Saviour, how dared 
she sing that song, which stands foremost amongst 
the songs that have ever fallen from the lips of 
men? 

Ah! Faith, the spirit of faith, taught her the 
wonderful mysteries that were to be accomplished 
through her humble self. She recognized by means 
of her intellect, enlightened by faith, the grandeur 
of the mystery of the Redemption to be wrought 
through her. 

And so through all her life we find Mary such 
an exemplar of living faith. On the faith of Mary 
in the words of the angel depended our Redemption, 
and Mary believed the seemingly unbelievable with 
an almost incomprehensible faith; she believed the 
wonderful message with an equally wonderful faith. 
For according to the words of the announcing angel 
she was to believe that she — the humblest of women 
— was that illustrious one, who was to tread upon 
the head of the old serpent. And Mary the humble 
maid believed it. 

Hence if any one desire to know how both con¬ 
tempt and respect for self, humility and just pride, 


78 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


may dwell together in the Christian heart, he will 
find the secret in that canticle of the Magnificat: 
“ The Lord hath looked upon the humility of His 
handmaid — He that is mighty hath done great 
things for me.” The spirit of faith teaches me my 
true grandeur and my true nobility. This grandeur 
and nobility consist in being a child of God by 
sanctifying grace. It does not consist in external 
accomplishments which pass away, in the possession 
of worldly pomp and circumstance which may sur¬ 
round a person to-day and be absent to-morrow. 
The spirit of faith prevents me from misunder¬ 
standing my real dignity and seeking it where it can¬ 
not be found. This nobility, of which I may be 
justly proud, consists in the supernatural state to 
which God has elevated me in the life of grace, pre¬ 
paring me for the life of glory and a participation 
in the divine nature (divinae consortes naturae, 2 
Pet. 1, 4). 

22. INTERIOR MORTIFICATION 

“ Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise 
perish” is the stern mandate of the Lord Christ 
to those who are in earnest about the business of 
salvation. To save our souls we must be found at 


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79 


death in the state of sanctifying grace, that is, free 
from unforgiven, mortal sin. But we cannot avoid 
that dreadful evil without practicing some degree 
of self-control, some restraint over the senses and 
the lower appetite, and without a resolute checking 
of the first slimy approach of grievous sin. Our 
Divine Lord goes so far as to say: “ If thy right 
hand scandalize thee, cut it off.” This means that 
we must be ready to make any bodily sacrifice rather 
than offend the Lord God by serious sin. 

The practice of mortification will enable us to 
avoid, or at least to beat down many dangers to the 
spiritual life of the soul. Exterior mortification, 
that is, self-denial or pain, which directly affects 
the senses and the body, is frequently mentioned 
in the Bible. The Fathers and the saints not only 
speak highly of this kind of mortification, but have 
given us the splendid example of truly mortified 
lives. In fact, there is not a saint in Heaven to-day 
who was not aided in his spiritual warfare by bodily 
mortification, sometimes continued for many years. 

But besides this exterior self-denial, fasting, 
shortening the hours of sleep, inflicting bodily pain, 
etc., there is another very important kind of morti¬ 
fication. It is called interior, and is very necessary 


8 o 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


if we would always remain in the state of grace. 
Thus, restraining curiosity of the eyes, not speak¬ 
ing in self-praise when there is occasion to do so, 
gladly accepting a rebuff or humiliation, keeping 
silence when the ready answer in self-defense is on 
the tongue — all these are interior mortifications. 
They are exterior only in so far as the body is to 
some extent concerned in them, but, says Bishop 
Hedley, “the pain is mental.” In fact, even ex¬ 
terior mortifications are of no avail, and help little 
in holding down rebellious inclinations of the flesh, 
unless they are accepted interiorly. To inflict self¬ 
hurt, out of a motive of vanity, is not the Christian 
virtue of mortification. 

There are so many ways in which we can practice 
interior mortification. Going along the streets 
there are so many sights thrust upon the eye. Are 
they all worthy of admission, or are they apt to 
cause base and carnal thoughts? It is far more 
prudent and noble to close the eyes to these un¬ 
worthy images. Many chances there are of ruling 
the tongue and not speaking the fault-finding word. 
A person who makes use of these little occasions in 
the proper way, gains much. For he gradually ac- 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


81 


quires that splendid habit of moving and living in 
God’s holy presence. 

23 . EXTERIOR MORTIFICATION 

St. Paul humbly confesses that he chastised his 
body and kept it under subjection, lest after hav¬ 
ing preached to others, he himself became a casta¬ 
way. The great Apostle thoroughly understood 
that as a follower of a Crucified Saviour he must 
love the Cross of Christ. But love of the Cross 
means acceptance of sufferings. Hence we find so 
many references in his letters to the Cross of Christ 
and to the tribulations which the lovers of that 
Cross must be ready to endure. 

The necessity of bodily mortification, fasts, vigils, 
abstinence from certain comforts, etc., is proved to 
us by the teaching of God in the Sacred Scripture. 
It is made a condition of the supernatural, in other 
words, the really Christian life. No text of Holy 
Writ so clearly brings home to the members of 
Christ’s Church the need of this virtue as those 
recorded in St. Luke (IX, 23): “ If any man will 

come after me, let him deny himself, and take up 
his cross daily, and follow me.” 


82 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


The ancient religions of the East also insistently 
taught the importance of overcoming sin and sensual 
inclination by bodily chastisement. The Dervishes 
and Sannyasins, or wise men of India, performed 
and still practice self-tortures which cause sensitive 
people to shudder. We do not look upon such self¬ 
tormentors as models for ourselves, as they often 
are guided by base and unworthy motives in these 
practices. But we should not as followers of a 
Redeemer, who walked the path of suffering, try 
to shrink from everything that causes discomfort. 

The saints all teach us the utility of this weapon 
in the spiritual warfare. The “ vince teipsum,” 
“ conquer thyself,” is written large in the annals of 
sanctity. St. Francis Borgia made this virtue the 
measure and test of holiness, as without it no one 
can grow in the spirit of prayer, or chastity, or 
humility. 

At certain seasons of the Church year, Lent and 
Advent, we are especially called upon to practice 
some bodily or exterior mortification, especially 
fasting. In the Preface of the Lenten season 
Christians are told of the advantages of these holy 
practices. By corporeal fasts we repress our vices 
and lower desires. This is a great benefit to the 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 83 

soul. It is also said that mortification lifts up 
the mind, i.e., makes it more fit to consider the 
things of God and of the eternal life. Finally it 
helps us to cultivate virtue and merits reward in 
God’s Kingdom. 

As companions of Christ, Whose life from 
Bethlehem to Calvary was one of continuous priva¬ 
tion amid labor and poverty, one long act of morti¬ 
fication, we should consider it a holy privilege to 
suffer with Him and for Him, and thus have the 
consolation of following Him more closely. 

24. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 

One of the shortest and most eloquent sermons 
ever delivered, you can find in the fifth chapter of 
St. Matthew’s Gospel. It was pronounced by Christ, 
the Teacher of all nations. Though short it is di¬ 
rect and to the point. There is no ambiguity about 
it; it contains no far-fetched allusions, no vague in¬ 
centives to righteousness and well-doing. It is a 
talk for all men of all times. It contains neither in¬ 
troduction nor peroration. Every sentence comes 
home with a vivid force and is a direct appeal. 
Like every great sermon it instructs. It bears 
the hall-mark of great literature. For it is the ex- 


84 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


pression of thoughts of universal and permanent 
interest, in language becoming its theme. 

“ And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a 
mountain, and when he was sat down, His disciples 
came unto Him. And opening His mouth, He 
taught them.’ , These are the introductory words 
of the inspired writer. What is the first assertion 
in this marvelous bit of precious and divine elo¬ 
quence? It is this beautiful and consoling remark: 

“ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven.” 

The poor in spirit are the humble, and they whose 
spirit is not set upon riches. Therefore, this 
sentence has a message for both the poor and the 
rich; it appeals equally to the man who has gold 
in abundance, to him who has a hovel for his 
abode and crumbs for food. What a much-needed 
lesson is brought out in these simple words! How 
sorely a deluded world, clamoring, struggling and 
striving for the passing things of time, needs this 
inspiring reminder! It is not gold and silver, and 
possessions in stocks and bonds that are worth 
while and that lend dignity and value to the in¬ 
dividual. It is the being possessed of a Christ-like 
spirit, it is love of God and of the brotherhood 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 85 

of man, that alone count in presence of the searcher 
of hearts. 

“ Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the 
land.” 

This, too, is a precept of universal application. 
When fierce anger sweeps over us, when we are 
tempted to use harsh language and bitter reproaches 
towards some brother who, we think, has offended 
us, then we may well and profitably recall the sweet 
words of the Master: Blessed are the meek. This 
recollection should be like oil upon troubled waters. 
Consideration of these words should cause the spirit 
of Christian love to take possession of the heart 
and check the fiery speech with which we were 
about to overwhelm one who, perhaps, had intended 
no evil. Thus we shall heap fiery coals upon his 
head, and gain for ourselves the blessings of peace. 
For the Psalmist has said: “ But the meek shall 

inherit the land, and shall delight in abundance of 
peace.” 

“ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain 
mercy.” 

Where find a stronger incentive to forgive our 
trespassing brethren than these words of the 
Sermon on the Mount? We all stand in need of 


86 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


mercy and forgiveness. This we learn from the 
parable of the hard-hearted servant in the Gospel. 
We have perhaps often wronged our brother. 
Often may we have injured him by cutting word 
or by malicious action. Now the safest way to blot 
out injuries of this kind, done in the past, will be 
to cast out anger and furious resentment against 
those who have offended us. 

“ Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see 
God.” 

This beautiful promise has always rewarded 
those who have striven to wear the white flower 
of a blameless life. No greater happiness than that 
resulting from keeping one’s heart free from the 
vice and degrading sin of those who defile their 
immortal soul by committing the evil which is an 
abomination in His sight. We read in the Psalms: 
“ The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who 
hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully 
to his neighbor: he shall receive a blessing from the 
Lord, and mercy from God the Saviour.” 

25. A GOOD INTENTION 

The story is told in some of the old devotional 
books of a little child which tries laboriously to 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


87 


write out the series of digits just learned at school. 
It toils and struggles with the strange symbols, but 
cannot succeed in reproducing them in their proper 
order. A long number of zeros is the only result 
of this first attempt at writing numbers. But lol 
the Angel Guardian bends over the child, gently 
takes its hand, and puts a single little stroke before 
the row of meaningless ciphers. What first was 
nothingness, has become a number exceeding great. 

We often strain and struggle at some task and at 
best muddle through it in a half-successful way. 
We accomplish so little from the standpoint of those 
critics, who weigh everything by results which can 
be measured or weighed, compared and registered. 
It were deplorable, indeed, were this slim and un¬ 
satisfactory outcome the only reward of our pains 
and well-meant efforts. 

But though the fond expectation of brilliant 
success is quite often defeated, the efforts will not 
be unrewarded. What the single stroke achieved 
for the row of zeros, the “ good intention ” brings 
about for the permanent value of our exertions. A 
striving in “ Nomine Domini ”— in the Name of the 
Lord — is never in vain. Part of the work always 
bears fruit, if not in results that are apparent to 


88 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


the eye, at least in reward and merit that are 
treasured there “ where no moths devour.” 

The laborers in the vineyard who had come at the 
eleventh hour, received as much as those who had 
“ borne the burdens of the day and the heats.” 
According to our standard of economy this is alto¬ 
gether wrong. But cannot the Lord pay out as 
He will ? Shall we continually apply our narrow, 
thumb-rule standards? Remember that all labor is 
great and dignified in the sight of the Lord. 

The Master of the vineyard, no doubt, saw the 
good will and energy of those who had been called 
at the eleventh hour and therefore He rewarded 
them liberally. The “ good intention,” which we 
are recommended to make at the dawn of every new 
day of toil, is something too valuable to pass by. 
For it lifts the task out of the sphere of the com¬ 
monplace, and makes it worthy of reward in the 
eternal mansions. 

26. THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 

One of the characteristics of the religious life of 
our times is its uncertainty in matters of doctrine. 
We see persons following self-styled religious lead¬ 
ers who have no authority to teach or preach; we 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 89 

see churches organized to-day to be dissolved on the 
morrow. A mass of contradictory doctrine is put 
forth by men who recognize no central authority, 
and who acknowledge no body of doctrine which 
is to be held alike by all the members of the church. 
This dissension and this disunion in matters of faith 
have been characteristic of the religious life of the 
world ever since the Reformation. History bears 
record how quickly a religious society, when 
separated from the true church, splits up into oppos¬ 
ing factions. 

Now the unity which is one of the distinguish¬ 
ing marks of the Catholic Church, the true Church 
of Christ, is all the more wonderful when con¬ 
trasted with the unfortunate dissension in the so- 
called sects. These religious bodies no longer be¬ 
lieve the same doctrines which were handed down by 
those who started their particular church. This dis¬ 
union becomes more marked from day to day. 

And yet it is easy to see that a church in order 
to be the true church must be necessarily one, one in 
its doctrine, one in its obedience to a central author¬ 
ity, and one in its means of grace. 

The parable of the mustard seed teaches us that 
the true Church must remain, throughout the 


90 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


centuries, in continuous and uninterrupted union 
with the small beginnings of the church as it existed 
in the day of the Apostles. The mustard seed, 
which in its growth and development has been 
regarded as a picture of the growth and develop¬ 
ment of the Church, grew into one, and only one, 
tree. Its branches, though spreading out in all di¬ 
rections, are none the less united with the trunk, 
which has come forth from the insignificant germ. 

In this parable which presents in so striking a 
manner the unity of His Church, Christ rebukes 
those who deal largely in the high sounding phrase, 
that “ one church is as good as another provided 
those who belong to it do what is right.” For as the 
tree, which grows from the mustard seed, retains the 
most perfect unity of nature and essence in the 
branches and in the whole plant, so the Church which 
is spread throughout the world must retain true and 
perfect unity in all essential parts: ‘‘one body and 
one spirit . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
one God and Father of all” (Eph. iv, 4, 6). 
Hence it is not a matter of indifference to which 
church we belong, but we must seek fellowship with 
the society established by Christ. 

Again, there is but one true Church of Christ 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


9i 


if Christ founded but one. For in this case all 
others are contrary to the Divine will, since He 
imposed the obligation upon all men to seek com¬ 
munion with the one Church which He founded, 
and, consequently, to shun communion with all 
others. 

Christ founded but one Church if He gave the 
charge to teach all nations only to the College of 
Apostles united under St. Peter as their common 
head. Now, all the passages of Scripture which 
refer to this mission show that this was the case. 
Any community, therefore, which does not derive 
its origin from this one mission, confided to His 
Apostles, and in them to their successors, cannot 
have been founded by Christ and, consequently, can¬ 
not be His true Church. 

This unity, which we have seen to be the dis¬ 
tinguishing feature of the Church of Christ, must be 
threefold and must be found in the Church of Christ 
at all times and in all places. There must be, first, 
the same faith; secondly, the same sacrifice and the 
same sacraments; thirdly, the same common head. 

As to the unity or oneness of faith which has 
ever distinguished our Church, history itself bears 
witness. The great councils, or authorized gather- 


92 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


ings of teachers of the Church, whether convoked 
in ancient times at Nice or Ephesus, or in modern 
times at Trent, have always and unanimously de¬ 
fended the same faith. 

As to the unity of authority, we must remember 
that Christ Himself constituted but one supreme 
power which was not to cease when the Apostle, 
upon whom He first conferred the prerogative of 
watching over the unity of the faith, had passed 
away. It was to Peter that He gave this special 
assurance: “ Thou art Peter and upon this rock I 

will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it.” If this Church, built upon the 
rock of Peter has fallen into error, then the gates 
of hell have prevailed against it and the promises 
of Christ have failed. But history bears witness 
that the Church has never taught error in matters of 
faith. At all times, moreover, have its members 
used and enjoyed the same means of sanctification, 
even as they have been united under one common 
head. 


27. THE SANCTITY OF THE CHURCH 

Sanctity is one of the notes or characteristics of 
the true Church of Christ. It stands to reason that 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


93 


an institution founded by our Saviour to lift man 
from sin and to enable him to save his immortal 
soul, is rightly called holy. Now the Church has 
been established by our Lord to lead men to eternal 
life and is, therefore, a holy organization. This is 
its one and only purpose, its very raison d’etre. 
For the Church in spite of all the foolish calumnies 
of her enemies, never has been, is not to-day, and 
never will be, a political institution, serving political 
interests or ambitions. Hers is the great and all¬ 
essential business of salvation. To save precious 
human souls from sin and folly and everlasting woe, 
and to direct them on the path that leads upward to 
the city eternal — this is her God-given mission. 

Men, of course, have a right to ask for the proof 
and pledge of the Church’s sanctity. They will 
grant that the Church has a holy Founder. They 
will perhaps admit that its teachings and doctrines 
are uplifting and pure and noble. They may con¬ 
cede that it offers certain helps to lead a good 
Christian life, as for instance, sacraments, de¬ 
votions, prayers, etc. But they will not admit 
that the Church is actually holy. Where, they ask, 
are the holy members of the Church? Where are 
the sainted priests and bishops and the holy Catho- 


94 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


lie laity? They are rather inclined to think that 
Catholics are no better than their neighbors. Are 
not Catholics guilty of like sins and misdeeds? 
Our Lord said: “ From their fruits you shall know 

them,” and people want to see the fruits of the 
Church’s sanctity. 

Now these objections are clearly stated and un¬ 
fortunately, it is but too true, that many members 
of the Holy Church of Christ do not give evidence 
that they appreciate membership in His Church. 
But yet these contentions, when examined with an 
unbiased mind, are not to the point. Christ our 
Lord did not say and did not promise that all the 
members of His Church would actually become 
saints. Freedom of will is not destroyed by adher¬ 
ing to the Catholic communion nor is the liberty to 
choose the ways of sin rather than those of right¬ 
eousness thereby curtailed. In a sermon preached 
at the Second Council of Baltimore, Rev. P. J. Ryan 
clearly discussed this subject. He said: “The 
sanctity of the Church does not imply the sanctity 
of each of her members. She is not an exclusive 
congregation of the predestined; she has within her 
pale the foolish as well as the wise virgins of the 
parable. The tares and the wheat grow together, 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


95 


until the angel reapers of the harvest-time separate 
them. Now, as in her early days, are found a Judas 
to betray and a Peter to deny. By her sanctity is 
meant that she is holy in her essential life; the Holy 
Ghost Himself, the indwelling spirit, sent by her 
Founder to abide with her forever; in her means of 
sanctification, her sacraments and doctrines, and in 
the abundant fruits, which in institutions and in¬ 
dividuals, these means have produced. She is holy, 
and leads others to holiness, as her Founder did. 
He did not sanctify every individual He met, but 
gave to all the means of sanctification. She simply 
continues the work He began in heaven and came 
on earth to perfect. This mission of sanctification 
began immediately after the mission of sin, and must 
continue whilst the mission of sin is to be defeated.” 

These words show that the Church may still be 
called holy, even though all those who claim com¬ 
munion with her, do not attain to the full stature 
of perfect sanctity. But vet when we look back 
upon the records of the Church’s progress through 
the ages, what a host of saintly men and women 
we behold, who owe their eminent sanctity to the 
Church? It is hard even to begin to enumerate 
the saints of any particular century of the Church’s 


96 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

existence. Let us merely look at the lives of cer¬ 
tain men, who are not only illustrious as saints of 
the Catholic Church, but whose names shine in 
history as marvelous apostles of charity, as heralds 
of Christian civilization or as martyrs for the 
Church of Christ. Let us think for a moment of 
that lovable man of God, who has won the esteem 
of men of all shades of religious belief — and no 
belief at all — St. Francis of Assisi. His name is 
synonymous with the most sublime love and regard 
for even the lowliest and poorest of his fellowmen. 
His perfect detachment from money and from 
riches, from goods and possessions, from all the 
things of earth, has been an inspiring example to 
thousands to “ go and do likewise ”— to serve, as 
he did, Christ in the person of the poor. He has 
won the richest praises and the most enthusiastic 
testimony from those without the Church. He 
founded that great and splendid Order of the Friars 
Minor, or the Franciscans as they are generally 
called. 

This is only one of the vast number of canonized 
saints of the Church who owe their marvelous 
holiness to the fact that they were faithful chil¬ 
dren of the Holy Church and eagerly embraced 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 97 

those means of sanctification which are held out 
to us as well. They have set an example for all 
time. Some modern philosophers have preached 
a gospel of the right of the mighty and the strong. 
They have proclaimed a new freedom — a freedom 
coming to those who spurn the moral law that binds 
the “ common herd.” But often their actions 
were a sad, strange comment on the proud gospel 
they preached and — practiced. They called them¬ 
selves supermen. But it is only in the saints that 
we find those who rise above the common run of 
men, and therefore they are the real supermen. 
How glorious and inspiring to recall that goodly 
company of youths and maidens who have 
triumphed over self and self-love, over the allure¬ 
ments of a sinful world and the snares of the evil 
spirit! What an encouragement to the weak and to 
the sorely^tempted soul to behold a youth struggling 
to keep unstained the highest possession of the good 
man, his virtue and honor — and out of the con¬ 
flict to win the splendid triumph! To see the 
maiden beset by the vanities and detestable wiles of 
a sinful world, and yet bear through life unstained 
the white robe of innocence placed upon her in 
baptism! 


98 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


And besides these actual fruits of sanctity in the 
Church we must also remember that she has a holy 
Founder, as well as a holy doctrine and that she 
treasures all the means of holiness. It is not neces¬ 
sary to go into the explanation of these features 
of her sanctity. Suffice it to say that the posses¬ 
sion of this note of sanctity together with the other 
three qualities of unity, catholicity and apostolicity 
will enable her to exist to the end of time. You 
and I, your children and your children’s children, 
will take their places beside the vast army of the 
silent dead, the centuries will come and go, wars will 
be fought and won, kingdoms and dynasties will rise 
and crumble into dust,— but the Church, the Church 
one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, will ever exist 
among men, sweetly and safely leading those of 
good will to their Father in Heaven. 

28. THE MISSION 

The writer one day happened to fall in with a 
noted Chautauqua lecturer and the conversation 
drifted to spiritual “ retreats ” and missions. “ Oh, 
yes,” said the latter, “ I know what these Catholic 
missions and retreats are — something like our 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


99 

Protestant revivals, only a little less shouting and a 
good deal more thinking.” 

There is certainly something worth pondering 
in this remark of a man who has a nation-wide fame 
as a brilliant lecturer. It happily brings to the 
surface one of the essentials of the two or three 
weeks’ mission, as it is generally given in our 
parishes. For those who “ make the mission ” are 
earnestly invited to do one thing — to think on the 
great truths of faith proposed in the sermons. The 
rest — fervent resolutions, good confessions, resto¬ 
ration of ill-gotten goods, giving up proximate occa¬ 
sions to mortal sins, etc., will follow naturally from 
the “ hard thinking ” on the substance of the mission 
sermon. 

Nor do we believe much in “ shouting ” on these 
occasions. In fact, we are inclined to look with 
suspicion upon the “ confessions ” of men who, we 
are told, rise up in prayer-meeting, assert that they 
have the Holy Ghost and that they have accepted 
the Lord Christ, and as evidence of this, pro¬ 
ceed to shake hands with everybody in sight. 
The “ conversion ” frequently stops right there. 
The “ convert ” goes out and instantly forgets what 


ioo THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


he shouted about and wonders why he shook hands 
with that tall, ungainly man whom he had never seen 
before. 

“ Less shouting and a good deal more thinking ” 
— it seems to be the very rule every experienced 
missionary wants those who are listening to him 
to observe. He does not want them to get up in 
the church and persuade the congregation that they 
are on the safe side with God. He does not want 
them to go home and do this. But he puts before 
them, with all the eloquence that only the heart 
inflamed with true zeal for the glory of the Lord 
can command, a few plain, “ hard sayings ” on the 
end of man, on mortal sin, on the punishment of 
that terrible evil, on Judgment and on Hell. Then 
he prays with his audience and dismisses them with 
the friendly advice: “ Think it over.” 

And though no efforts have been made in order to 
arouse hearts and fan enthusiasm, the listeners — 
many of them men who have not visited the church 
or the confessional for years — go home, their 
hearts stirred to the depths. They have begun “ to 
think.” The thinking has borne fruit. For next 
Saturday one of the parishioners, who has not seen 
his neighbor, Mr. B., at services for many years, is 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


IOI 


somewhat surprised to see him edging his way closer 
and closer to the crowded confessional. What has 
happened ? Mr. B. made the mission. He did not 
shout about it. He heard the sermon, he 
“ thought ” and the grace of God did the rest. 

And so even in these days of little faith the Holy 
Spirit is active in His Church, blessing the words 
of the priest and of the missionary, and winning 
back precious souls from the slavery of sin to the 
liberty of the children of God. 

29. “l AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD ” 

The representation of Christ as the Good 
Shepherd of our souls is one of the favorite themes 
of Christian art. It is at the same time one of the 
most consoling and encouraging aspects of the life 
of our Divine Master that the picture of the Good 
Shepherd recalls to us. It is good and proper at all 
times that we remember that Christ is our Shepherd 
and that we are His beloved flock. The early 
Christians loved to depict the image of Christ, the 
Good Shepherd, on the doors and walls of the cata¬ 
combs, whither they had been compelled to flee by 
the pagan persecutor. They drew inspiration from 
this representation and it reminded them of the con- 


102 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


soling truth that their Divine Leader was ever with 
them. In the strength of this belief they faced op¬ 
position and trial and fought the good fight that led 
them to salvation. 

Christ has become a Good Shepherd for every 
member of the Church militant. By Baptism we 
were received into His fold and it was through His 
care and fatherly solicitude that we have been pre¬ 
served from the attacks of ravening wolves who 
ever try to deprive us of the gift of faith and of 
the liberty of the children of God. In the Holy 
Eucharist He nourishes us and makes us strong 
against rebellious passions from within. To His 
priests He gives knowledge and understanding that 
they may explain to us aright the word of His doc¬ 
trine and ever lead us unto good and fruitful 
pastures. 

Christ’s fold to-day is, then, the Holy Catholic 
and Apostolic Church. But alas! many there are 
who look for salvation elsewhere than in the Church 
of Christ. They still cling to the name of 
Christians, but seek their happiness in un-Christian 
ways. They refuse to be docile members of the 
flock. The wisdom of the Church is not sufficiently 
“ advanced” for their tastes. They have read a 


OUR SPIRITUAL ARMOR 


103 


“ modern book ” or listened to the suave, smooth 
speech of some modern gospeler. Then they 
imagine that they have discovered a weak point in 
that Christian armor which for nearly two thousand 
years has been the pride and the strength of count¬ 
less souls and has enabled them to reach the City 
Eternal. The splendid teachings of a Paul and of 
an Augustine, of an Athanasius and of Thomas of 
Aquin, are not sufficient for them. The many 
martyrs who gave their blood for Christ and for the 
doctrine of the Apostles mean nothing to them. 
They pretend to find sounder doctrine in the empty 
verbiage of self-styled religious leaders and pastors. 

Souls led astray by such teachers are easily 
brought into strange pastures and thus become the 
prey of false prophets. They are advised to inter¬ 
pret the Bible according “ to their own light.” And 
vicious conclusions are often preached by them as 
solid truth. They even attack the Divinity of 
Christ. An eternal hell for the reprobate no longer 
appeals “ to their sense of justice.” For they say 
that this belief smacks of the “ dark ages.” 

These are some of the false preachings of the 
hirelings, of the false prophets, of the wolves in 
sheep’s clothing. There are many prophets of this 


104 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

kind. They work in the dark and in the open, in 
season and out of season. They have their publi¬ 
cations which they freely distribute by the 
thousands. Verily, we see here one phase of that 
age-long contest between truth and falsehood, be¬ 
tween light and darkness, between Christ and the 
world. But in the end the Good Shepherd will 
triumph over His enemies. There will be one fold 
and one pasture. 

It behooves us, however, who are children of 
light, who belong to the one true flock, to let our 
light shine before men. Many there are who 
through no fault of theirs are still in darkness, and 
are still looking for “ the kindly light.” They know 
not where to turn. They perhaps needs us, need 
our prayers, and the example of a good Christian 
life, to lead them out of the encircling gloom. Ac¬ 
tions are more telling than words. What happiness 
for us to bring some soul closer to the good 
Shepherd of Christendom, and to help ever so little 
to realize the prophecy that one day there shall be 
but “ one fold and one shepherd.” 


III. WHEN THE LAMP OF HOPE BURNS 
LOW 


30. WEARINESS IN WELL-DOING 

Sometimes a depression comes over the soul 
which prompts it to grow lax in its attempts at well¬ 
doing and at straining upwards towards the better 
things. This may be at times the result of mere 
physical exhaustion. Again it may steal upon the 
soul because some long-cherished and favorite plan 
has suddenly come to naught. It may also be 
caused by secret pride which rebels because sufficient 
notice has not been taken of previous endeavors, 
or it may really be a temptation of the evil spirit, 
who strives to keep the soul from further effort 
along the lines of her good resolutions. 

In all these cases it is best not to lose hope, but 
to keep on precisely with that work or undertaking 
which we are tempted to discontinue. It is not 
necessary that brilliant, palpable success should 
crown our every effort at doing something for God, 
for our Church, for our own soul, or for the good of 
105 


io6 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


the neighbor. Perhaps it is better that we be kept 
in the dark occasionally as to the value of our ef¬ 
forts in the sight of God. If we have a good in¬ 
tention in our undertaking, if we do not allow self- 
love or self-seeking to creep in and cast a blight 
over our motives, the value, even of little efforts, 
is great in the sight of God, though they seem in¬ 
significant when judged by external standards. 

In fact it is well worth while to recall the value 
of little things when tempted by weariness in well¬ 
doing. There is a poem called “ The Petrified 
Fern,” which tells of a little fern-leaf, green and 
slender, that grew on a mountain centuries ago. It 
grew unnoticed for “ rushes tall and moss and grass 
grew around it and no foot of man ere trod that 
way.” Mighty convulsions and changes took place 
in nature, mountains and avalanches changed their 
course. “ But the little fern was not of these; did 
not number with the hills and trees; only grew and 
waved its wild, sweet way, none ever came to note 
it day by day.” Then one day there came a great 
upheaval of the ocean, the woods and plains were 
swallowed up and these destructive forces “ crushed 
the little fern in soft, moist clay, covered it and hid 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


107 

it safe away.” Thus it lay apparently lost and use¬ 
less for many centuries. 

“Useless? lost? There came a thoughtful man, 
Searching nature’s secrets far and deep; 

From a fissure in a rock steep 
He withdrew a stone, o’er which there ran 
Fairy pencilings, a quaint design — 

Veinings, leafage, fibers clear and fine, 

And the fern’s life lay in every line! 

So, I think God hides some souls away, 

Sweetly to surprise us the last day.” 

What a beautiful illustration this is of the value 
of little works and little things, well accomplished! 
Perhaps, years after, the little deed will give evi¬ 
dence of itself, and will blossom forth into fruit 
of fair and seemly proportion, even though at first 
it was hardly noticed by men. 

In the second place, we ought to renew our hope 
when tempted by discouragement in the pursuit of 
high spiritual ideals and in the constant combat 
against the rebellious inclinations of our lower 
nature. Does not Isaias say so beautifully, and so 
cheeringly: “ They that hope in the Lord shall re- 


io8 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

new their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, 
they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and 
not faint ” (Is. 40, 31). 

Hope is that confidence in God which prompts us 
to look forward to eternal life with the sweet assur¬ 
ance that he will give us all the means needed for 
its realization. Now one of the results of this hope 
is precisely a trusting in God in the trials and 
struggles of life. In these days when the beautiful 
virtue of hope is put to such a strong test by the 
calamities falling upon the Church, by great dis¬ 
asters, and by the ruin visited upon nations we 
should, each one of us “ hope in the Lord ” in order 
to “ renew our strength.” And the languor and 
depression that sometimes grip us will vanish away 
and we will be able to do our share manfully as 
children of God and as members of Holy Church. 

31. COURAGE IN ADVERSITY 

It is not a little disheartening to find some of 
our people who have long lived in easy circum¬ 
stances suddenly lose heart and fling away hope, 
as soon as adversity befalls them. It is dreadful 
to learn that sometimes they fall into dark despair 
and do away with that great gift over which God 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 109 

alone has full dominion — their own life. As if 
this terrible act were to end all their sufferings 
and put an end to their worry! It seems at times 
as if our generation is becoming less and less inured 
to put up with the inevitable trials of life. 

Our forefathers were made of sterner stuff. 
They knew how to accept the bitter with the sweet. 

We have often listened in wonder to the stories 
of the pioneer days and marveled how they could 
have lived through such hardships and long-con¬ 
tinued privations. But not only did they live 
through it all. They handed on to their posterity 
a precious inheritance; frequently, not only a for¬ 
tune, accumulated by honest toil, but the more 
precious heritage of a good name, and of the true 
faith, kept amid trials which might have proved 
disastrous to a less sturdy generation. 

Faith, the true faith, here we have the watch¬ 
word, the talisman which guided them through days 
filled with woe and through nights of agony and 
of burning pain. Perhaps our faith has grown 
dim. We have perhaps become victims of that 
dread evil — religious indifference. We may still 
have a few objects of piety in our homes, and per¬ 
haps go to Mass on Sunday, if the weather is agree- 


no 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

able, and there is nothing else to do — but this limits 
the practice of faith in many households. 

Then comes the inevitable cross, a death in the 
family, lingering sickness or racking pain, loss of 
fortune, remorse and worry caused by an ungrate¬ 
ful child; one or another evil to which our daily 
existence is ever exposed. Then if faith be not 
strong, if we remember not that we have here no 
lasting home, if our heart clings solely to creatures, 
to ease and sluggish comfort, to friends and fortune, 
to gold and glitter,— then, no wonder that the 
slimy tempter steals into that worldly, unchristian 
heart, benumbed by loss of faith, and that then he 
whispers the frightful suggestion! 

“ Sursum Corda ”— lift up your hearts — this 
should be the aspiration and motto of the Christian, 
when beset by the troubles and burdens of life. 
“ Into each life some rain must fall, some days 
must be dark and dreary.” Such is the teaching 
even of worldly wisdom. For we cannot expect 
an unbroken run of smiling days, and of hours 
laden, every one of them, with brightness and glory. 
There must be intermingled the day of sorrow and 
the hour of trial. We are followers of the Cruci¬ 
fied Saviour. We are His children. He is the 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


hi 


Master. It is not for us to seek a flowery path 
when the Master walked the thorny way of tears 
and afflictions. 

Faith then teaches us how to regard these sorrows 
that suddenly break upon the happiest life. This 
faith teaches us that “ crosses are ladders that reach 
to heaven.” Even sorrow and woe, and pain and 
bitter trials, have their well-appointed place in life. 
How shallow and flighty and unbearable would not 
many a character be, if it had not been schooled 
in the school of affliction! But now it is reliable 
and strong because it has been forced to experience 
sorrow. How vain, and perhaps, even repellent, 
would be the piety and spirituality of some persons, 
if trouble and tribulation had not taught them 
salutary lessons! Let us not, as Christians, be 
outdone in wholesome philosophy and in our atti¬ 
tude towards the trials of life, by those who have 
not the gift of faith. They try to tide over stormy 
days and hours of bitterness by a cheerful exterior 
and by an indomitable optimism. Let us who are 
called to fellowship with the Man of sorrows, who 
know something about the Mater Dolorosa likewise 
remain strong and valiant when the “ inevitable 
happens,” when the cup of pain is pressed to our 


112 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


lips. For are we not told that a benign Providence 
watches over us, and that without the will of the 
Divine Master not a hair of our head can be in¬ 
jured? 


32. LITTLE JOYS 

As the body of the honest worker soon becomes 
tired by excessive toil and strenuous tasks, so the 
mind and heart of the sensualist easily become 
wearied and surfeited by prolonged indulgence. 
For like the bodily powers, the capacity of mind and 
heart are limited, and riotous living sooner or later 
brings its own penalty. 

It is not, therefore, the giving of full satisfaction 
to every debasing cry of the senses, nor yielding 
free rein to the wild clamors of the heart, that pro¬ 
duces real and enduring contentment. The latter 
cannot be found on this earth. It is a most insane 
quest to seek it in the life of the senses and by 
plunging headlong into the whirlpool of carnal de¬ 
lights. For, as just said, these soon weary the 
mind and soul and often drive their hapless victim 
to self-destruction. 

It is the “ little joys,” those that are readily se¬ 
cured and that are within reach of rich and poor 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


113 

alike, which make no demands upon strength of 
body or mind, that tend to stir up the secret 
springs of gladness in the heart of man. It is true 
the heart must be prepared to appreciate these 
sources of joy. The beauty of field and meadow, 
the rainbow in all its glory, the laughter of children, 
the charm of song and story, the beauty of the 
cathedral and works of art, the warmth of genuine 
friendship, the happy reunion of the family where 
peace abides — these are some of the unfailing 
founts of sweetest and purest joy. Noblest joy of 
all, and one which is frequently found when the 
other simple joys are known, is the joy and peace 
springing from a good conscience, from the feeling 
that we have tried to be right with God. 

Those who have once experienced the “ little 
joys ” do not care to exchange them for pleasure of 
the senses and for delights bought with gold. The 
story is told of John, “ the merry soap-maker,” who 
was tempted to give up his trade and happiness for 
the wealth and position of a rich devotee of 
pleasure. But John soon tired of the delights pur¬ 
chased with money and sighed for the good, happy 
days when he knew the meaning of peace and con¬ 
tentment. 


114 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


The “ little joys ” are ever within our reach. It 
were the greatest folly to ignore or even condemn 
them and go in quest of those alluring pursuits 
which promise golden hours, but whose attainment 
frequently turns to ashes in the mouth. 

'33. BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE 

A great master of the spiritual life, St. Ignatius, 
says that sickness is no less a gift than health. 
We are to understand by this that we can serve God 
just as well by bearing up patiently under sickness 
and trial as by zealous labors undertaken for the 
salvation of souls and by heroic mortifications. 

In other words, this saying teaches us that bless¬ 
ings frequently come to us in disguise. Sickness, 
especially if long and painful, is something we all 
naturally shrink from. We dread it as a terrible 
inconvenience. We only think of the discomfort 
it causes to us or to those who must wait upon us. 
But we are apt to forget the finer qualities it may 
bring forth in the soul of the patient. There is 
resignation and humility, and fortitude and patience 
— beautiful virtues all of them — which may be 
learnt, perhaps for the first time, on the sickbed. 
And if these be so thoroughly acquired as never to 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


1 15 

be lost afterwards, the sickness was, indeed, a gift 
in disguise. For without it these precious qualities 
would not have come to the soul. 

And so it is with other trials that befall us in a 
life-time. Nothing happens unforeseen. To the 
person of faith even hardships and sudden calamity 
have their value and meaning. God can draw good 
from evil. The trial may have been very necessary 
to strengthen your character, to teach you an im¬ 
portant lesson, to root out a vicious inclination 
which might have endangered your salvation. In 
these cases the blow was certainly a blessing in dis¬ 
guise. For the spiritual advantage far outweighs 
the little material discomfort. 

We are apt to notice only one side of the in¬ 
evitable ills that befall us. This is the side that 
causes pain and annoyance, or stirs us out of 
sluggish ease and comfort. Naturally, we resent 
thus being deprived of the convenience we consider 
our due. But let us be brave and large-hearted. 
What to-day seems a cross exceedingly heavy, 
a blow cruel in the extreme, may in the course of 
time turn out to be a heaven-sent blessing. Saint 
Joseph was told at night to fly with the Child and 
His Blessed Mother into Egypt. It was, naturally 


ii 6 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


speaking, an annoying command. Yet it was one 
act in the grand drama of the Redemption of the 
human race from sin, and slavery to passion and the 
powers of evil. Untold good has been wrought in 
other souls by the contemplation of that act which 
wrought temporary hardship to the Holy Family. 

Looking upon undeserved trials and misfortunes 
with the eyes of faith is the part of a brave soul. 
And faith tells us that there is a silver lining 
to the cloud, that the trial may become a stepping- 
stone to higher virtue and bring us closer to the 
heart of God. 


34. A GREAT POET ON HAPPINESS 

The quest of happiness is the great impelling 
quest of men at all times. Even the seemingly 
apathetic follower of the Buddhist sect, whose 
highest ambition is to attain Nirvana, believes in 
some kind of happiness. But how few there are 
who attain the object of their ardent quest! Many 
there are who set out with high hope, when their 
hearts are young, with the purpose of some day 
attaining the object of their one desire — soul- 
satisfying contentment and happiness. But ere 
long they are foiled in their efforts and bitterly con- 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


ii 7 

fess that happiness is like the will-o’-the-wisp, 
always eluding an eager grasp. 

Let us look at the lives of some of the world’s 
worthies and favorites who are generally supposed 
to have obtained all that the heart of man could 
desire. Have they attained real happiness? Na¬ 
poleon, dying a prisoner of war in St. Helena, 
and reviewing the superb conquests of his earlier 
years, dies with regret in his restless heart. Other 
mighty conquerors and potentates, surfeited sensua¬ 
lists and children of fortune, expire with the long¬ 
ing of unfulfilled desires on their lips. 

Goethe, who has sometimes been called the great¬ 
est poet of the nineteenth century, tells us towards 
the end of his life what he thought of the phantom- 
pursuit of earthly joy and glory. He wrote: 

“ When all is said my life has been nothing but 
care and work. I can even say that in my seventy- 
five years, I have not had four weeks of real happi¬ 
ness. It has been a continuous rolling up hill of 
a stone which must ever be pushed again from the 
bottom.” 

Now why is this? Why is the quest hardly ever 
achieved? The answer is very obvious. Men do 
not take the right path to reach the goal of happi- 


ii8 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


ness. Goethe’s own career offers an illustration. 
Few men of letters attain such high distinction 
during their life-time as the German bard. Kings 
and nobles showered their favors upon him. He 
was sought out by those who were regarded as the 
leaders of society. He had worldly goods in 
abundance. But yet, his heart was poor. He was 
a man of large vision and supreme imagination, yet 
he had not the priceless gift of faith. Though in 
his great work Faust he harks back to the mellow 
days of mediaeval faith and of glad submission to 
the unseen Creator, yet his soul was not uplifted. 
For he believed not that Christ had come to teach 
a new message of love and peace and genuine happi¬ 
ness to the children of men. In fact, he sneered 
and showed his contempt for those doctrines which 
are the source of sweetest joy and noblest inspira¬ 
tion to the loyal children of the true Church. 

And hence, though he was gifted with vision and 
imagination as few of the great world poets have 
possessed, he went through life not impelled by the 
highest ideals, but with an eye ever fixed upon the 
empty reward which a shallow world offers to its 
votaries. But these rewards, at some time or other, 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


119 

become to him who achieves them, as ashes in the 
mouth. 

How superior is the lot of those, on the con¬ 
trary, who go through life without securing the 
passing prizes of fortune, but whose heart is in¬ 
spired by visions of the eternal reward, beckoning 
them onward from beyond the bournes of time? 
Though their feet are fixed on the earth, their aspi¬ 
rations, their desires, and their hearts’ desires are in 
heaven. Their “ Sursum Corda,” their frequent 
upward gazes to their home in the hereafter, sweeten 
their toil, and enable them to go forward coura¬ 
geously, manfully, and with hope in their hearts, 
through life’s weary pilgrimage. 

35. THE JOYOUS HEART 

The Liturgy of the Mass contains frequent ex¬ 
hortations to spiritual joy. Quite often the Introit, 
or opening prayer of the Holy Sacrifice, is an in¬ 
vitation to rejoice in the Lord. “ Rejoice, again I 
say, rejoice,” is the burden of one Mass, while an¬ 
other Sunday is called “ Laetare ” Sunday — Sun¬ 
day of Joy. Some of our beautiful church hymns, 
as the “ Regina Coeli,” are hymns of gladness, while 


120 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

the “ Vexilla Regis, ,, like the song of a triumphant 
conqueror, tells the children of the Church militant 
to rejoice in “ the mystery of the Cross,” and the 
“ Pange Lingua ” calls upon us to join in the “ noble 
triumph ” of the same sacred symbol. 

One of the great bishops of our Church — Kepp- 
ler of Rottenburg — beholding the gloom and 
pessimism that has seized upon men to-day, wrote a 
book of spiritual joy, and invited this generation 
to a new “ Sursum Corda.” “ Lift up your hearts 
to the joy-giving mysteries and truths of the 
Church,” says the learned prelate. He called his 
book “ More Joy,” because he saw the need of 
greater gladness for men in these days of economic 
stress, of social upheaval, and alas! of little faith. 

And such an appeal for deeper and more lasting 
joy is sorely needed, in what Bishop Keppler calls 
our “joyless time.” There is indeed a wild race 
for pleasure and sensual excitement. But often 
these very pursuits only intensify sorrow and sad¬ 
ness in many a heart. The happy Middle Ages 
spoke of a merry “ Easter Laughter.” Those 
ages realized the meaning of rising with the Lord 
Christ from sin to a new life of grace and spiritual 
freedom. But to-day large sections of society do 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


121 


not know how to enter into the spirit of the great 
feasts of the Church and do not heed their message 
of “ Rejoice, again I say, rejoice.” 

Those who read the signs of the times carefully 
will admit that in spite of material progress and a 
certain “ social uplift ” we have not succeeded in 
diffusing joy and lasting contentment among the 
masses. The talk about pessimism, social unrest 
and discontent, economic depression with its accom¬ 
panying evils, blighted ambitions among both rich 
and poor, has unfortunately a basis in actual con¬ 
ditions. Why, too, all these suicides, this evident 
anxiety of shifting the burden of life and life’s 
responsibilities? Do they not frequently result 
from a false persuasion that life’s evils are too great 
to be borne? 

To all these persons suffering from mental or 
physical woe, Christianity comes with a consoling 
message and with a gospel of hope. For Christian¬ 
ity is in fact a religion of hope and joy and strength. 
It would fail of its mission if it had not the power 
of lifting the afflicted, of healing the wounded in 
mind and heart, and of putting cheer and inspiration 
into blighted lives. At the moment when the Re¬ 
deemer gave up His life on the Cross there was 


122 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


opened a new era for the children of men — the 
era of peace, and joy and freedom in the service of 
the Lord. 

But in order to participate in the spiritual glad¬ 
ness and freedom of the New Dispensation men 
must avoid sin — sin, the one great evil, the dis¬ 
turber of God’s wise moral order, and the cause of 
so much suffering among nations and in individuals. 
The joyous heart is not the reward or the privilege 
of those who offend the Lord, their God. It is 
frequently the reward of well-doing in God’s serv¬ 
ice. A heart attached to the sinful things of earth 
and coveting the vanities that pass away will hardly 
share in the spiritual gladness purchased for us by 
our Saviour. When we have once attained to this 
spiritual joy in the Lord, we should try to “ pass it 
on,” to spread sunshine round about us, and to give 
evidence that for us the Christian life means peace, 
contentment, service, joy and charity in the Lord. 

3 6. THE FAITH OF THE MILLIONS 

Have you, as a child of our Church, ever thought 
that you belong to a world-wide society, which 
knows no limits of nation or flag or color? Your 
faith and creed are not those of merely a thousand 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


123 


or a hundred thousand, but of millions from all 
climes and nations. You belong to a Church, which 
is Catholic, that is world-wide, loved and acknowl¬ 
edged wherever there are children of the race of 
men. Her creed is professed in a hundred tongues, 
her ministers announce the glad tidings of truth and 
salvation, in innumerable dialects. Wherever you 
go, you are at home, for the millions are with you, 
are on your side, and make profession of the same 
faith. 

This wonderful unity in things essential is all the 
more remarkable in a world so changing as ours. 
Theories are set up to-day to be overthrown on the 
morrow. In politics, in statecraft, in poetry, art, 
and literature, there are changing schools and 
fancies. The dictum of the old Greek Philosopher 
—“ everything is in a perpetual flow ”— is true of 
all things, save the faith of the millions. 

The millions of the one, true, Catholic and 
Apostolic Church do not change their faith. It is 
the same to-day, yesterday, forevermore. For our 
Church is founded on the adamantine rock. These 
millions may hold different political creeds, they 
may belong to different schools of social reform, 
they have different standards of living. Yet in the 


124 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


temple of truth, in God’s Church, in things essential, 
they are one. What a glorious and consoling re¬ 
flection, this remembrance of our unity! 

And so when we are tempted by the sham 
philosophy, or the open hostility of our enemies to 
become disloyal to the good old faith of our 
Catholic forefathers, to the faith of the millions, 
we will make once more an act of faith and draw 
all the more closely to the Church of the Apostles, 
to the Church builded on the rock, to the heavenly 
Jerusalem, the city of peace. No, we have cast our 
lot with the millions, with the millions who have 
gone before, noble souls, who have found that 
Church the one haven of refuge in the hour of trial, 
the good mother in their sorrows, the kind 
safe, infallible guide to the true homeland in the 
hereafter. 

37. THE LIBERTY OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD 

One of the gifts that every normal person justly 
esteems is personal liberty. In fact, to judge from 
the praises of liberty by the poets, and the encomiums 
showered upon “ the free man in a free country,” 
there is nothing like independence, liberty, freedom. 

It is true that personal freedom, and freedom 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


125 


from unjust laws and tyrannical lawgivers is a 
priceless boon. It is well to sing the glory of a 
free country and the joy of independence. But is 
not the sacred cause of liberty sometimes extolled 
by those who are in reality slaves, slaves to sin 
and to their sinful selves? Is not the glorious term 
“ freedom ” often abused by men, who while glory¬ 
ing in freedom from physical compulsion, are yet 
held in a most abject slavery to vile passion? 

Few phrases contain so much truth and deep 
wisdom, as the one which refers to those free from 
the foul taint of sin, as blessed with “ the liberty of 
the children of God.” They alone are really free 
and independent. They have conquered self and 
the allurements to sin and the maxims of a deceit¬ 
ful world. The latter holds no terror for them, it 
exercises no sway or sovereignty over them. 
Whereas the victims of sin, of the evil spirit and of 
the perfidious world are ever subject to influences 
which hold their souls in shameful captivity. 

It is true that the victims of gross sin will not look 
upon themselves as slaves. They may even boast 
of their liberty, their freedom from the moral re¬ 
straints which bind “ the common herd.” Yet none 
the less are they really slaves, held in a captivity 


126 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


which dishonors the soul raised to the supernatural 
state and called to fellowship with Christ. 

The just man on the other hand, that is, the man 
free from mortal or grievous sin, enjoys real liberty. 
He realizes the dignity that is his as a child of God 
and an heir of Heaven. Such a person is not a 
slave to every whim and caprice of passion. How 
different the state of sinners! Their senses and 
faculties are the slaves of sin. They have none 
of the rights and privileges of souls in the state of 
sanctifying grace. They know not the sweetness 
and the blessings of that heavenly freedom which 
has been secured for us by Christ, the Conqueror of 
sin. 

Every Christian should therefore pray for victory 
over the might and tyranny of his predominant pas¬ 
sion. We should resist beginnings and check the 
first impulses which gradually lead man into com¬ 
plete subjection to sin. What a sad spectacle to 
behold man made in the image of God, dominated, 
buffeted and beaten about by base passion and sin¬ 
ful desire! He, who was made a little less than the 
angels and was crowned with glory and honor, is 
now no longer real master of himself, but lies low 
in hideous thraldom. Truly there is no slavery so 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


127 


wretched as that of sin, and no liberty so precious 
as that of the soul in the state of God’s grace and 
friendship. 

38. THE STORY OF THE PASSION 

A saintly Dominican, who wrote a book of 
meditations on the Passion of our Divine Lord, 
dedicates his work “ to all those whom God afflicts 
in mind or body.” In these words we have one of 
the great lessons of the story of the Passion. It is 
intended to console, encourage and uplift us in the 
hour of suffering. 

We may so regard the Passion of our Saviour, 
even though its first purpose was to redeem us from 
sin and to make sufficient reparation for man’s trans¬ 
gression to the Eternal Father. This purpose is so 
intimately interwoven with every action of the 
private and public life of the Redeemer that we 
can scarcely ignore it. But we may fail to notice 
that the dark days of His Passion and Agony are 
also intended to be our hope and strength when pain 
and affliction overwhelm us. 

The saints have told us how they had recourse 
to the wounds of our Saviour in the day of suffer¬ 
ing. St. Gertrude and St. John of the Cross are 


128 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


especially ardent in their exhortations to flee to the 
Gross of Christ when bitterness and sorrow seize 
upon us. Our Lord, in turn, impressed the marks 
of His sacred wounds upon those whom He chose 
to honor. No doubt, He wished to teach us that 
those who revere His sacred Passion, and have re¬ 
course to His Blessed Wounds, will be strengthened 
and comforted. 

We read that the crucifix was “ the favorite 
book ” of some of the greatest saints. From it they 
learned patience and humility, and kindness and 
universal charity. And, indeed, how can that heart 
be turned against a brother which is daily strength¬ 
ened by a devout glance at the blessed rood? In 
the great world-conflict which has set nation against 
nation, those dying on the field of battle have, in 
the strength of the Cross, forgiven their enemies, 
and turned with hope to their little crucifix. Of 
this we have authentic instances. 

It is especially in the Passion that we see the im¬ 
measurable superiority of Christ to other so-called 
spiritual leaders. Christ not only taught a beauti¬ 
ful doctrine, but also showed by His own example 
how we are to bear up under physical suffering. 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


129 

Not so Buddha or Confucius and the other re¬ 
formers of whom we read in history. 

What would we do without Holy Week, when the 
sublime story of the sufferings of the Saviour is told 
in all our churches? Then we realize so vividly 
that Christ indeed loved us to the end. Then we 
learn that “ greater love than this no man hath than 
to give his life for his friend.” 

39. THE VALUE OF THE INDIVIDUAL 

One of the much-used and much-abused phrases 
of our time — a phrase often in the mouths of those 
who like to rant about the rights of the modern 
man, is “ the development of individuality.” It 
seems that the “ individual ” to-day has certain 
privileges which were not known to the forefathers. 
Certain writers have become distinguished for what 
they pompously call their part in “ the warfare for 
the liberation of humanity.” Every man, and every 
woman too, is to recognize no higher law. Let 
every man be a law unto himself. The German 
dramatist Sudermann has written the praises of a 
heroine Magda, in a play called “ Heimath,” in 
which he lauds a silly and spiteful little creature, 


130 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


whose sole claim to distinction rests on a furious 
craze for “ developing her own individuality.” 
And so there are other German writers who deal 
largely in glittering phrases about “ der Werth der 
Persoenlichkeit,” das eigene Ich, “ Selbsbewust- 
sein,” etc. (“The value of personality, one’s own 
‘ I,’ consciousness of self.”) 

Alas! how readily those who follow the empty 
maxims of writers of this stripe come to grief. 
They will meet with rebuffs because there are others 
who over-prize their “personal self,” who will 
tolerate no interference with “ individual right ” 
— and woe and contention and bitterness and secret 
pangs of jealousy and feelings of wounded pride 
and revenge then riot in the heart. How the 
haughty structure built of airy nothing has fallen 
into the dust! 

But yet, there is a true dignity and majesty in 
every individual soul — a dignity and worth which 
are often forgotten by those ensnared by the empty 
prattling of a world without faith, of a world that 
has lost its true standards for judging moral and 
spiritual values. D'oes not the Psalmist say: 
“ Thou hast made him (man) a little less than the 
angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honor 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


131 

and hast set him over the works of thy hands ” ? 

Centuries later Saint Leo phrases the same beauti¬ 
ful ideas in an admonition which has rung down 
the ages: “ Agnosce Christiane, dignitatem tuam ” 

—“ O Christian, know thy dignity.” This exalted 
station and dignity of the individual, however, be¬ 
long properly only to him, who having been bap¬ 
tized into the mystic Body of Christ, the Catholic 
Church, remains a friend of God, by keeping his 
soul untainted by the foul blot of serious sin. For 
in the state of sanctifying grace, the soul is really 
a child of God, an heir of heaven, and a partaker 
of all the blessings and graces purchased for us by 
the Precious Blood of the Saviour. And these 
privileges are extended to each individual Christian, 
— to the lowliest and humblest, as well as to those 
who fill the highest stations in society. It is only 
the possession of sanctifying grace which clothes 
the individual soul with lasting dignity and 
grandeur. Hence, no wonder that the Church of 
Christ has always had heroic workers and mis¬ 
sionaries who igladly suffered untold privations to 
bring the sweet gospel of salvation to souls lan¬ 
guishing in the valley and shadow of death. For 
these apostles truly recognized the value of the in- 


132 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

dividual inasmuch as they understood the value of 
a soul in the eyes of God. They considered no 
labor too great in this duty of saving souls. It is, 
therefore, after all, only the Church of Christ which 
teaches the true value of the individual, since that 
value does not reside in external graces and accom¬ 
plishments, much less in possession of gold and 
jewels, but in fellowship with Christ by the posses¬ 
sion of charity, or in other words, of sanctifying 
grace. 

Ye Christian men, who must at times listen to 
foolish assertions that the Catholic Church cripples 
the individual soul and places shackles upon indi¬ 
vidual development, and knows not the value of per¬ 
sonality, go, tell these foolish speakers, to what lofty 
dignity even the child of the outcast and of the 
pauper may aspire in our Church. For that child 
baptized, and remaining in the state of baptismal 
innocence or sanctifying grace, is an object of per¬ 
ennial beauty in the sight of God. It is only from 
Christianity, and its doctrine of individual im¬ 
mortality, that we learn the inestimable value of the 
individual. If in all sorrows we look up to God, 
if in the hour of trial and in the hour of rejoicing, 
we never lose sight of eternity, if we ever live as 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


133 


“witnesses of the Resurrection” and firmly hope in 
the Lord, we may trust to be with Him on that 
bright and cloudless morning when the dead in 
Christ shall rise, and the chosen ones shall gather 
to their home beyond the stars. And more than 
this, throughout the days of our weary pilgrimage 
we will ever be conscious of our individual dignity, 
as souls destined to share the eternal love and 
friendship of our God. 

40 “ WHITHER SHALL I FLY FROM THY 

SPIRIT ? ” 

A poet of our time, who has won a distinguished 
place in English literature, tells how a soul tries to 
flee away from God down “ the long savannahs of the 
blue.” And yet the soul cannot escape the bound¬ 
less presence and the limitless love of the Lord God. 

The thought expressed in this now famous poem 
is not new. In the gray morning of antiquity the 
Psalmist brought home the same message in lan¬ 
guage of far surpassing strength and power and 
with a more universal appeal. For he wrote: 

“Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? Or 
whither shall I flee from Thy face? If I ascend into 
Heaven Thou art there: if I descend into hell Thou 


134 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


art present. If I take my wings early in the morn¬ 
ing, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even 
there also shall Thy hand lead me: and Thy right 
hand shall hold me.” 

Battered and bruised by the oncoming of dour 
and sudden trial and suffering, the heart of man is 
tempted to fling away hope and to sink deep down 
into sullen despair. The wound may seem too 
dreadful for healing, the blow too cruel to find re¬ 
dress. And so the soul, once fast fixed in God, is 
tempted to flee “ from the face of God ” and to 
brood alone in silent gloom. 

But like the whispering of an angel’s voice there 
comes a message of hope: “ Whither shalt thou 
flee from His face ? God is there even in the depths 
of woe, He is with you even in the abyss of your 
desolation.” God is and was with you through all 
those days which were filled with sorrow. He is 
nigh to you in those dark nights when grim despair 
threatens you. Nor is this empty consolation, nor 
the foolish talk of a false friend. For does not 
the Psalmist say: “ Even there also shall Thy hand 
lead me: and Thy right hand shall hold me.” 

Truly consoling this thought that we cannot 
escape the benign presence of God, our Father. If 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


135 


the chastising hand have been laid upon us, if the 
hurt still smart and burn, yet we may say with Job: 
“ I know that my Redeemer liveth.” It is our short¬ 
sightedness, our folly, or perhaps even our hidden 
selfishness, that causes us to take a false and one¬ 
sided view of the trial. Looked at in the larger and 
brighter light of faith, it will present another side. 
We may recognize that the blow was needed to re¬ 
move dross from the soul, to strengthen a gradually 
weakening character, to bring home a much-needed 
lesson, to set us steadily and firmly upon that path 
that leadeth straight to the Master. 

“Whither shall I fly from Thy spirit?” Shall 
these words not teach us the folly of seeking calm 
and peace away from God and the light of His coun¬ 
tenance? For even when the palsied life drinks 
from cups of flame and seeks the company of the 
perverse — even then will He be nigh, but then it 
will be the thought of God’s might and His oncom¬ 
ing justice. “If I descend into hell, Thou art 
present.” Who then shall escape from God ? 
These thoughts of the Psalmist, these thoughts con¬ 
cerning God's continual presence, will help the 
soul to lift herself occasionally to a vision of the 
City Celestial. 


136 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


41. god’s presence 

It is a great mistake to imagine that we perform 
God’s will and that we are near to Him only in 
prayer, in attendance at church, or in the practice 
of pious devotions. A profound spiritual writer of 
our day has said: “ Whatever may be the occupa¬ 

tion which God demands of me, whatever may be the 
kind of work whereto His will calls me, even were 
the occupation the commonest, the work the rough¬ 
est, God is there, because His Will is there. He 
is there, quite near, transparently clear behind a thin 
veil. The soul with dull eyes does not see Him, 
it only sees the material obligation, which occupies 
and arrests its looks. And when it desires to find 
Him, it turns elsewhere to see if it can find Him 
in a few devotional exercises. And there it does 
not find Him, since His will is not therein: His will 
is only to be found in the obligation that presses at 
the moment” (“ The Interior Life,” Edited by the 
Very Rev. Father Joseph Tissot). 

These are certainly very encouraging reflections. 
It is frequently the thought “ God sees me,” “ He 
is aware of my suffering and disappointment ” that 
may exert a powerful, directive influence upon the 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


I 37 


soul. At one time the thought of God’s continual 
presence may check the beginnings of strong tempta¬ 
tions ; at another, it may give help when the spiritual 
combat is being hotly waged. Too often, indeed, 
it is the forgetfulness of God’s presence that causes 
the soul to lose courage and to give way to the 
tempter or to abandon some good undertaking. 

The recollection of God’s continual presence will, 
therefore, be inspiring and helpful at all times and 
will produce manifold blessings. For this thought 
cannot but spur us on to do something for His glory, 
or in the cause of sweet charity. It will likewise put 
us on our guard against occasions of sin. When 
surrounded by the allurements of the world and 
beset by the clamorings of unruly desires, when we 
see so many others walking the easy way of sin, 
there are few thoughts apt to prove so strengthening 
as this: “ God sees me and I am responsible to Him 

for all that I do.” 

But it is especially the consideration that God is 
with us and near us even in the performance of 
ordinary duty, as well as in prayer or in devotional 
practices, which gives us a deeper sense of the value 
of the duties of our state of life when they are per¬ 
formed with a good intention. The afore-men- 


138 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


tioned spiritual writer says: “If the will of God is 
what I am seeking to know, what I am attaching 
myself to, and what I strive to follow, I find it 
always great, always perfect, always like itself, al¬ 
ways holy and adorable. It matters little whether 
it be in important matters or in small details, in dis¬ 
positions which are irksome to me or are agreeable 
to me; as for me, it is always the same will that I am 
looking for, the same will that I find, and the same 
will that I carry out. ,, Hence it is not proper to 
make piety consist entirely in the practice of favorite 
spiritual devotions. For this may be seeking our 
own will rather than God’s will. The person who 
remembers that God may be served in humble work, 
who is mindful that God is ever present with, and 
cooperating with him, while performing his daily 
duties throughout the long run of a dreary day, will 
not imagine that God is honored only by prayer and 
by devotional practices. Such a one gladly takes 
up the work of the day, and with pure intention 
labors for the Lord, though he be engaged in tasks 
that seem of little value. 

Many so-called “ uplift ” and “ inspiration ” 
books have been published of late years. They 
preach a healthy optimism, telling us to take joy and 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


139 


to find cheer in our daily duties, and, no doubt, they 
do some good in bringing home to people the excel¬ 
lence of steadfast attention to our every-day obliga¬ 
tions. But scarcely one of these books ever lays 
stress on the great truth here pointed out — that our 
daily work is God's work if it be done with pure 
intention and if it be not opposed to any of His 
commandments. How happy we may be in this 
thought — that whether we work or whether we 
pray, God is with us and near us. We need not go 
far to find him. The advice of the apostle: 
" Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you 
do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. Ch. 10, 
V. 31), bears a precious message to those who have 
learned to see and to seek God in all things. They 
are like the children of God to whom St. John refers: 
“ who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the 
flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.” 

42. PEACE OF MIND 

One of the greatest blessings that can enrich man 
is peace of mind. It is often the fruit of loyal and 
continuous service of God and of devotion to His 
cause. It is frequently the reward of some act of 
charity, and it also may result from the conscious- 


i 4 o THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


ness that we are trying to fulfill, as well as we can, 
the particular duties of our state of life. 

We must bear in mind, however, that peace of 
mind and quiet of heart are not always the portion 
of God’s most devoted servants here on earth. 
Quite the contrary may be the case. We know that 
some of the most heroic souls, those who have worn 
themselves out in the service of God or their neigh¬ 
bor, or have been conspicuous for observance of 
rule in some religious community, have also had 
days filled with sorrows and suffered through long 
nights of affliction. Great interior trials darkened 
their path and temptations worried and accom¬ 
panied them like a malicious shadow. Thus St. 
Catherine of Siena tells us that she was harassed 
by distressing temptations which dragged her soul 
into the depths of darkest fear. Similar confes¬ 
sions have been made by other saints of God and 
heroes of sanctity. 

In such cases the safest remedy is to keep up 
one’s hope and to try and cultivate a spirit of resig¬ 
nation and even of interior joy. For such trials and 
temptations, even if long-continued and supremely 
annoying, are not a sign that the soul is displeasing 
to God or that it is to be excluded forever from the 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


141 

sweet sunshine of His love and peace. But there 
are other sources of interior worry and fret and bit¬ 
terness of soul. These are found within ourselves. 
They are the “ little foxes ” that slip into the heart, 
that banish peace, that rob us of merit, that bring on 
feelings of anger and envy and revenge, that lead to 
harsh words, that spread gloom and discontent 
where there should be joy and happiness and sun¬ 
shine. It is certainly worth while to discover the 
lair of such insidious enemies of peace of mind and 
joy of soul. 

How appropriately in the language of the Cate¬ 
chism certain more grievous, and unfortunately, 
very common sins and failings, are called “capital 
sins ”— capital, because they are the source and root 
and well-spring of ever so many other transgres¬ 
sions — great and small! Perhaps a cursory exam¬ 
ination of some of these capital vices, from the view¬ 
point of their minor results, will help us, in the lan¬ 
guage of the Canticles, to “ catch the little foxes that 
destroy the vines,” and that carry worry and sour 
disappointment into our lives. 

The first great sin, the sin that often sows sorrow 
and discontent in the heart that is guilty of it, is 
pride. How much hidden worry and foolish disap- 


142 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


pointment and sore affliction may not be traced to 
this one sin! The proud can know no peace. At 
least not long will all be well with the proud heart, 
with the conceited mind. For suddenly there arises 
an occasion when some slight concession is to be 
made to the will or opinion of others, some circum¬ 
stance presents itself which calls for a little sacrifice 
of self-love — and lo! the person is not equal to the 
emergency. Pride rebels, pride refuses to see things 
except from one little narrow, self-centered point of 
view. And how quickly restlessness settles upon the 
heart, and how suddenly equanimity and poise are 
disturbed! Has pride perhaps been the reason why 
you suffer from long spells of secret sullenness, or 
has this sin despoiled you of cheerfulness? 

Equally baneful as a destroyer of peace of mind is 
ill-regulated attachment to worldly goods, to money, 
to possessions. This means to be a slave of the sin 
of avarice. And how can he who inordinately 
covets and craves for gold and great riches find last¬ 
ing peace of mind? The demon of avarice will tor¬ 
ment him. The “ Lust of the Eyes,” as Scripture 
calls the hankering after much wealth, the “ ac¬ 
cursed greed of gold” has brought dire woe and 
misery upon many a soul and into many a house- 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 143 

hold. In its wake follow discontent and useless 
strivings, and thwarted ambition and heartache. 
Well may he from whom peace has departed, and 
into whose abode has entered the spirit of discon¬ 
tent, ask himself: “ Has the second of the capital 

sins wrested from me a pearl beyond price, a posses¬ 
sion more comforting than gold and silver — peace 
and quiet of mind? 

Still more inimical to the possession of peace of 
soul is that terrible evil which Scripture calls 
“ the lust of the flesh.” For not only the grosser 
sins of sensuality put to flight the spirit of sweet 
peace, but even the inordinate seeking of one’s bodily 
ease and comfort at any cost, may be responsible for 
the throng of unruly desires that invade the heart 
and banish therefrom what formerly it prized so 
greatly — the consciousness of being at peace with 
God. Now where the foul serpent of sensuality 
has once fastened its poisonous sting, there peace 
will be unknown and tumultuous restlessness and 
soul-destroying agencies will enter in. “ Abandon 
ye all hope who enter here ”; so read the great seer 
Dante, as he came to the gates of hell. The words 
apply especially to those who have fallen victims to 
the base and debasing vices of the flesh. In vain 


144 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


will they seek refuge from the demon that has fas¬ 
tened upon their souls. Let such have recourse to 
the cleansing Sacrament of Penance. After they 
be shriven clean, after they have purified the dark 
chambers of the heart — perhaps they may find 
again that peace which once was theirs. 

Envy — the very name spells uneasiness of mind, 
— pallid cheeks, vain, thwarted hopes and ambi¬ 
tions. Has this Capital Sin found a place in your 
heart? Then for you there will be no more peace. 
First cast out this unruly demon. Rather rejoice 
at the good fortune of your brother than be envious 
thereat, and then may peace spread her wings once 
more over your troubled heart. 

These reflections show the truth and perennial 
beauty of that Scriptural phrase which refers to the 
just as being free with the liberty of the children 
of God. Those, on the other hand, who cover their 
souls with sin are not free. They are slaves to 
self, to the Evil Spirit, to sinful passion. And as 
long as they languish in such thraldom, they shall 
know no peace nor shall their hearts be comforted 
with the spiritual gladness which encourages those 
who walk the way of God’s commandments. But 
casting out sin, you pave the way for peace. 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


145 


43. THE QUEST OF HAPPINESS 

The child, the youth, the man with the weight of 
years upon him, seek happiness. At certain periods 
of the year, at certain anniversaries, men seem best 
able to express their feelings by wishing one another 
more happiness, greater joy. Even as we go along 
unconsciously through our day’s duties, instinct¬ 
ively that craving for happiness guides us. It 
causes us to avoid things that make for permanent 
discomfort, to seek things that make for ultimate 
joy. 

And it is right and proper to follow this desire 
for soul-satisfying happiness — that is, to seek hap¬ 
piness in a manner becoming a rational creature and 
one destined ultimately for fellowship with the 
saints in the Kingdom of God. The saints sought 
this happiness — and found it. The sinner seeks 
it —• he is contended for a while; but alas! soon the 
forbidden fruit turns to ashes in his mouth, and he 
finds out that the work of iniquity is more bitter 
than gall and wormwood. 

Hedged in by the paths followed respectively by 
the great saint and the great sinner on their quest 
for happiness, there are countless other paths, and 


146 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

all of them are traveled by weary mortals in search 
of the same great boon — happiness. And those 
who plod along these myriad paths are all only more 
or less successful. We see many a puzzled 
wanderer turning aside from one way to try another, 
but always his quest is the same — happiness. 
Some there are like Galahad and Percival, who fol¬ 
low the gleam of the Grail, o’er “ lonely mountain 
meres” and up the rugged, barren heights —and 
are rewarded in the end. They are blessed with the 
vision of the Grail, chiefly because “ they ever wore 
the white flower of a blameless life.” Others there 
are —so many of them, who like Lancelot and 

Guinevere, bravely set out upon the same quest_ 

the vision of the Grail and the attainment of happi¬ 
ness — but are not successful. 

Nor is it only the heroes and heroines of poet- 
lore who illustrate for us this quest of happiness. 
Not only of old did youths and maidens, and sire 
and son set out with high hope of obtaining their 
hearts’ desires, but even to-day we behold the same 
ceaseless striving of the children of men for the 
phantom happiness. As of old, they set forth with 
the same aspirations, with the same eager desire to 
arrive at the coveted goal of unalloyed joy. But 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


147 


how many to-day are not foiled in their eager 
search! How many like Lancelot meet with sore 
disappointment and have nothing but shame and 
lasting remorse for their ceaseless striving? Alas, 
that man will not learn from his forebears, both 
from those who have been successful and from those 
who have failed, how to arrive at lasting joy and 
contentment. 

Seeing the utter hopelessness of finding what they 
desire, some are apt to become discouraged and to 
sink back in utter weariness and to murmur against 
God. He has given us, they say, this desire for per¬ 
fect peace, but has not provided us with the means 
for its realization. They forget that even of old, 
the great preacher Solomon pointed out the path 
to true wisdom and together with it the path to last¬ 
ing joy. He first sought joy and comfort in created 
things. “ I made me great works, I built me houses, 
and planted vineyards. I made gardens and 
orchards, and set them with trees of all kinds; I 
heaped together for myself silver and gold, and the 
wealth of kings and provinces; and when I turned 
myself to all the works which my hands had 
wrought, and to the labors wherein I had labored 
in vain, I saw in all things vanity, and vexation of 


148 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


mind, and that nothing was lasting under the sun.” 
But at the end of his book he reached the conclu¬ 
sion: “Fear God, and keep His commandments: 
for this is all man.” 

Not so strange is it, therefore, that centuries 
afterwards another famous preacher, seeking the 
way to lasting joy, should have written in his 
memorable confessions: “Thou hast made us for 
Thee, O God, and our hearts rest not until they 
find Thee.” So wrote Augustine, the learned 
Doctor of the Church, who pursued the phantom 
happiness in devious ways and along crooked paths 

and finally found what his heart so earnestly de¬ 
sired, not in the sinful pursuit of the things of time 
and in the vanities of life, but in the earnest serv¬ 
ice of God which holds out the firm hope of a 
blissful immortality. 

The same restless striving for more joy is going 
on to-day. But strange, that in spite of so many 
additional creature-comforts within the reach of the 
multitudes, there should be such unhappiness, such 
dark pessimism, such discontent with life. Why 
the many suicides, the broken hopes, the blighted 
lives, the ruined families, hearts prematurely robbed 
of the joy of youth? Is it not because men and 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


149 

women, young and old, seek happiness there where 
it cannot be found? 

Let us learn from Solomon and Augustine, from 
the wise men of all times and from our experience, 
that it were idle to seek lasting joy from creatures, 
especially from the sinful use of creatures. These 
should be unto us, not stumbling-blocks to our sal¬ 
vation, but stepping-stones to sanctity. For not 
in the abundance of earthly things, not in gold and 
silver, not in bodily comforts and passing vanities, 
will be found the secret of true joy, but in a loyal, 
faithful service of God, in the consciousness that 
from day to day we are becoming more worthy of 
Llim, Who one day will be our reward and our joy 
exceeding great. 


44 . THE WORLD 

We are told so often that we must hate the world, 
that we must detest its manner, flee its abomina¬ 
tions, and not accept its principles. This seems to 
many a hard saying. Like the disciples some may 
be tempted to say: “ This saying is hard and who 
can hear it ? ” 

Let us then try to realize the meaning of these 
counsels. The world, in the first place, or rather 


150 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

the spirit of the world, is ever opposed to Christ and 
His teachings. The worldly spirit tempts its fol¬ 
lowers to love entirely different pursuits and ideals 
than those taught by Christ and His Church. 
Hence the world is opposed to the Church. The 
world again is not of God, nor does it know Christ. 
(St. John xvii, 27). The aim of the world is fixed 
upon, and circumscribed by, the lust of the eyes, 
the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. A man 
entirely steeped in the worldly spirit, therefore, 
casts out of his heart allegiance to Christ. For he 
who is not with Him is against Him. This world 
ever hates Christ and His Church. Witness what 
has happened in some countries to-day. 

The prince and leader of the world, understood 
in this sense, is Satan himself. He arrays the 
world in constant combat against Christ, and leads 
in the age-long attack of the forces of the world 
upon the citadel of the Church. St. John refers 
to the evil spirit as the “ prince of this world.” He 
also tells us that “ he will be cast out,” i.e., that in 
the final combat Christ and His Church will van¬ 
quish the world and the forces of evil. 

And lest we be considered too severe in this 
judgment on the world, we may recall the words of 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


I5i 

the Master. During the last sublime discourse to 
His disciples, He prays to the Father as follows: 
“ They are not of the world, as I also am not of the 
world.” And again, He solemnly says: “ I pray 

not for the world but for them whom Thou hast 
given Me.” 

It is, therefore, on the words and conduct of our 
Divine Master, that we base our enmity towards the 
world and its spirit, which is and will always remain 
opposed to the spirit of the humble Christ. And do 
you ask what is that worldly spirit, which we are 
commanded to look upon as the great enemy in the 
religious life of to-day? Why, it is in evidence 
everywhere about you. It is working openly and 
secretly, boldly and insidiously, to draw away souls 
made to the image of God, from the love and serv¬ 
ice and friendship of God. Its helpmates are 
legion. The world has recruited them from out 
of the ranks of the powerful and the lowly, the wise 
and the ignorant, the cultured and the plebeian. It 
knows how to adopt its means to its one fell purpose 
— to draw away mankind — yea, the whole race of 
man, from the service of God. Culture and prog¬ 
ress, systems of education, the influence of litera¬ 
ture and the press, the power of diplomacy and 


152 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


the eloquence of misguided minds, all these has 
the world secured to wage its bitter war against 
Christ and His Church. A world-combat has 
begun. It began long ago, centuries ago, it began 
when Christ, the typical enemy of the world, and 
the grand leader in the combat against its power, 
hung on the rood of Calvary. But beside Him on 
the cross there was a malefactor on His right hand, 
another on His left. The one reviled Him, the 
other prayed for mercy and forgiveness and pardon 
of sin. 

And so, to-day, there are two camps, two 
armies, contending the one against the other. The 
one army is made up of that vast number of souls 
who through their own fault, through lives stained 
by grievous, unrepented, and unforgiven sin, have 
lost their privilege to be called the children of God. 
Their lot is with Satan, with the world, with the 
enemies of Christ. Not content with their own 
wretched plight, they seek to draw others under 
the standard of Lucifer, the prince of the world. 
The other army has remained loyal to Christ, His 
cause, to the voice of conscience, to the whisperings 
of grace, to the gentle guidance of His infallible 
Church. Many of them may have sinned occasion- 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


153 


ally in the sight of their God. But they repented 
them of their faults, and in the Sacrament of 
Penance they sought the strength and the virtues 
to take up with new courage the combat against 
the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the 
pride of life — the combat against the world. They 
were never confirmed in their aversion to God. 
Their allegiance to Satan and to the world was 
broken, when with the grace of God and by virtue 
of the sacraments, they left the land of bondage 
and came back to their Father’s house. 

Yet in this never-ceasing conflict which we all 
must wage against the world and its spirit, we need 
not fear. For we are clothed with power and pro¬ 
tection from on high. Daily the prayer for vic¬ 
tory ascends to God — after every holy Mass — 
offered to the God of Might in all lands of Christen¬ 
dom. And that prayer will be heard. The com¬ 
bat against the world, against the powers of dark¬ 
ness and the hosts of error will continue to the end 
of time. But in the end we, the children of the 
Church, all those who have combated this world 
and remained steadfast in the ways and in the com¬ 
mandments of God, shall win. For we have the 
infallible words of our infallible leader in this con- 


154 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


test against the powers of evil. We remember the 
words of Christ: “ I have overcome the world.” 
And protected by Him, and aided by the saving 
grace of His Holy Church, we know no fear. Our 
victory is assured. 

45. SERVITUDE TO THE WORLD 

In his novel entitled “ La Voie Sans Retour,” M. 
Henri Bordeaux, describing characters at the fa¬ 
mous gambling resort, Monte Carlo, has a few 
lines whose truth will be recognized by all those 
who have a little experience of life. Referring to 
the crowd of men and women seated at the card- 
tables, a spectator asks his companion: “ Have you 

ever noticed in people who work this same tense and 
dreadful anxiety? If all these idlers had to gain 
their bread in the sweat of their brow, you would 
not see them wearing so woeful an expression.” 

The speaker here, without being aware of it, ut¬ 
tered a saying of great significance. It has a much 
wider meaning than he wished to convey. It is 
almost universally true that those who give them¬ 
selves, heart and soul, to the pursuit of vain am¬ 
bitions, to the sinful conquest of things of time and 
sense, must sooner or later pay the bitter penalty. 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


155 


For those things do not and cannot pave the way to 
lasting peace and contentment. They rather pro¬ 
mote “ a tense and dreadful anxiety.” In fact, the 
speaker really expressed an old truth in a new way 
— that the reward of world-service is oppression of 
spirit and a heart never at rest. 

How many individual instances do we not all 
know which bear out this assertion. Our daily pa¬ 
pers present us numberless examples. We there 
read of the vain strivings of worldly-minded, sinful 
men and women, whose one desire is to win the 
empty prizes of the world — wealth, or high office or 
some social distinction. But others there are who 
seek to thwart them in their plots and ambitions. 
The path to high social eminence and to great wealth 
is often strewn with blighted lives and broken hopes. 
How few there are who attain to the height of their 
ambitions? And even if they win the empty honor, 
the social eminence, how quickly they may be cast 
down to become the sport of the mocking multitude ? 
Truly he whose heart is caught in servitude to the 
world shall know no lasting joy. There is no 
slavery so vile and so abject as slavery to the world, 
to its fickle principles and to its frivolous demands. 
Let not your heart become entangled in this serfdom 


156 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


and never become a victim of that most tyrannical 
taskmaster — the world. 

46. THE VISION OF IMMORTALITY 

It is no mere coincidence that the greatest singers 
of all times have developed in their best works 
themes which momentarily lift the veil hiding the 
hereafter and thus afford a vision of immortality. 
The inspired poet, Dante, the most eloquent inter¬ 
preter of man s longing for immortal life, owes his 
world-wide fame to a work which pierces the 
bournes of sense and time and lifts our vision to 
the eternal throne of God Parzifal, the youthful 
hero of the poem by the greatest of the mediaeval 
court-singers of Germany, goes through life on an 
ideal quest —the quest of the Holy Grail, the symbol 
of the immortal longing in the heart of men for the 
blessed vision of God in the eternal home-land. 

Even Goethe, a singer who had practically broken 
with the Christian world-view, was forced to seek 
the theme of his life and master-work “ Faust,” in 
the Christian teaching concerning the future life. 
For after the unfortunate Faust had lived through 
a tumultuous riot of sensual indulgence in the first 
part of the poem, without finding the peace for 


THE LAMP OF HOPE 


157 


which he craved, Goethe allows that temptation- 
tossed soul to find rest in the hereafter. We may 
perhaps quarrel with the German poet for passing 
his hero through the gates eternal leading to soul- 
satisfying peace, without previous contrition and 
repentance for gross sin and depravity. But this 
much is certain — the transcendant world-view of 
the devout Christian must have impressed him pow¬ 
erfully. Otherwise he could not have taken thence 
the elements for the final scenes of that poem, which 
is said to contain his principal message to the cen¬ 
tury. 

In the " Idyls of the King,” Tennyson allows the 
much-suffering, heroic ruler to depart not to a place 
of transitory bliss, but, because the king “ ever wore 
the white flower of a blameless life”—he departs 

“To the island-valley of Avilion; 

Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, 

Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies 
Deep-meadow’d, happy, fair with orchard-lawns 
And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea.” 

to live an immortal life with those who have been 
faithful to God, to duty and to the still, small voice 
of conscience. 


158 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


Calderon, the most renowned of Spain’s dramatic 
poets, points in his masterpiece “ The Steadfast 
Prince,” from the countless graves in the city of 
the dead, to the everlasting homes of redeemed souls 
in the city lighted by God’s countenance. 

The great poets are loath to part company with 
their heroes when fate overtakes them. These 
heroic souls, the poets say, “ shall come again to 
rule once more.” For they are not dead, or rather 
being dead, “ they still live.” Hence we find that 
the illustrious heroes, especially those distinguished 
for well-doing,—Arthur of the Round Table, 
Beowulf, the hero of the Old-English epic, Emperor 
Frederic Barbarossa, and even Hiawatha, the bene¬ 
factor of the American Indians, are not dead, but 
they will come once again to lead their people to 
light and blessed peace and immortal glory. 

Without Christ, without the resurrection of 
Christ, Dante could not have written his “ Divina 
Comedia,” nor Calderon his “ Steadfast Prince,” 
nor Goethe his “ Faust.” 

What the boldest imagination of the most gifted 
poet could only dimly conceive, this Christ, the risen 
Lord, has made a certainty by His Resurrection and 
Ascension. The most majestic and most touch- 


TIIE LAMP OF HOPE 


159 


ing tragedy is the one enacted on Calvary. It 
surpasses in splendor and dignity the tragic cre¬ 
ations of the most renowned poets. What is the 
“ Divine Comedy ” compared to the true Resurrec¬ 
tion of Christ to everlasting glory? It is but the 
stammering and the halting speech of the child. 
What is Raphael’s “ Transfiguration of Christ,” 
this richly-colored canvas, compared with the true 
joy of Heaven? What is Wagner’s soul-stirring 
music compared to the harmonies of the city eter¬ 
nal? What all the passing beauty and transitory 
splendor of earth, when estimated “ sub specie 
aeternitatis ”— from the standpoint of the glory that 
passeth not away, of that joy which no ear hath 
heard, no eye hath seen,— promised to the lowliest 
follower of Christ, the Saviour? 


IV. THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 


47. LADY POVERTY 

One of the most amiable saints of the thirteenth 
century, Francis de Assisi, chose the Lady Poverty 
as his spiritual bride. The “ Poverello,” the “ poor 
little man,” as his townsmen called him, freely 
stripped himself of his goods, and they were many 
— for his father was a rich merchant — in order to 
serve his needy brethren, Christ's poor, in greater 
humility and simplicity of heart. Francis well 
knew that poverty and humility of spirit frequently 
brought down the blessings of Heaven. For hath 
not the Master said: “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ? ” He knew, 
too, that if he remained poor himself, he would tire 
less easily of serving the poverty-stricken brethren. 
Nay more, he knew that then he would even be 
ready to go begging in order to supply their wants. 

Like Saint Francis, other great heroes of God 
and servants of His poor, chose “ Lady Poverty ” 
as their companion and guide in service of their 
160 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 161 


needy brethren. Among them are Vincent de Paul, 
Peter Claver, St. John de Matha, and many others 
who achieved great results and brought untold 
blessings to the wretched and the forsaken because 
they themselves experienced poverty and could, 
therefore, feel deeper sympathy with the needy, the 
outcast and the afflicted in body and mind. Those 
who had the good things of this world, gladly gave 
of their abundance to these apostles of the poor; for 
they knew that alms bestowed upon such ministers 
never failed to reach those who were in need and 
who suffered. 

But the whole world to-day shrinks from pov¬ 
erty as if it were the one great evil, the one calamity, 
the one disgrace, as if it were a distressing and 
loathsome plague. To accumulate wealth, to sat¬ 
isfy every desire — these seem to be the main objects 
of many persons’ ambition. The “ auri sacra 
fames,” the accursed greed for gold, has brought 
ruin and desolation into many a life. And yet the 
praise of “ voluntarily accepted poverty ” has been 
sounded even in our day by a man whose world¬ 
view is not that of a devout Catholic — Professor 
William James, the former Harvard professor of 
Philosophy. He writes: 


162 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


“ Poverty indeed is the strenuous life — without 
brass bands or uniforms or hysteric popular ap¬ 
plause or lies or circumlocutions; and when one sees 
the way in which wealth-getting enters as an ideal 
into the very bone and marrow of our generation, 
one wonders whether a revival of the belief that 
poverty is a worthy religious vocation may not be 
‘ the transformation of military courage,’ and the 
spiritual reform which our time stands most in 
need of. 

“ Among us English-speaking peoples especially 
do the praises of poverty need once more to be 
boldly sung. We have grown literally afraid to 
be poor. We despise any one who elects to be poor 
in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he 
does not join the general scramble and pant with 
the money-making street, we deem him spiritless 
and lacking in ambition. We have lost the power 
of imagining what the ancient idealization of pov¬ 
erty could have meant; the liberation from material 
attachments, the unbribed soul, the manlier indif¬ 
ference, the paying our way by what we are or do 
and not by what we have, the right to fling away our 
life at any moment irresponsible — the more athletic 
trim, in short, the moral fighting shape. When we 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 163 

of the so-called better classes are scared as men 
were never scared in history at material ugliness 
and hardship; when we put off marriage until our 
houses can be artistic, and quake at the thought of 
having a child without a bank-account and doomed 
to manual labor, it is time for thinking men to pro¬ 
test against so unmanly and irreligious a state of 
opinion.” 

Miss Repplier, too, in a recent essay, “ Our Lady 
Poverty,” reminds us of the great things that have 
been done under stress of poverty, and speaks of 
the inspiration begotten of reduced circumstances. 

Poverty, then, despite all the teachings of so- 
called social “ uplifters ” and pink-tea sociologists, 
is in itself not disgraceful nor is it a barrier to 
success in the attainment of the higher good — peace 
of mind and serene contentment. We may not be 
called upon to espouse Lady Poverty like Francis 
de Assisi and many other heroes of the higher life. 
But we can, no doubt, secure part of the expansive 
joy that ever abode in the Poverello’s heart by being 
poor in spirit, and by not allowing the passing things 
of sense to occupy our minds and hearts to the 
exclusion of the higher and nobler interests of the 
soul. 


164 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


48. FOR GREATER THINGS 

Thrown into the midst of a busy and active life 
as most of us are, we are beset by maxims and 
watchwords, telling us to make the most of our 
days. Under our eyes are thrust the slogans: “ Be 
good to yourself,” and “ Do it now,” “ Don’t 
worry,” “ Just smile,” and “ Every man a king.” 
These and many similar suggestions contain, no 
doubt, an appeal to the energy, good will and cour¬ 
age latent in most hearts. They may help us to 
overcome certain obstacles. But they fall short of 
being applicable at all times, under all circum¬ 
stances, under stress as well as when fortune smiles, 
in all places, and for every possible sphere of human 
endeavor. 

The Saints, too, those brave men and women who 
ever looked forward to a better and brighter land, 
whose desires and ideals soared upward, though 
their feet were firmly planted upon the earth, have 
left us maxims making for joy and success and for 
encouragement to do our best during the pilgrimage 
of years. One of the sainted men of old told his 
fellowmen, “ Remember, O Christian, thy dignity.” 
Ignatius Loyola chose for a daily reminder these 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 165 

words, “ For the greater glory of God.” St. Ben¬ 
edict taught his disciples the value of these telling 
words, “ Work and pray.” Francis of Assisi and 
Philip Neri invited their townspeople to “ Be joy¬ 
ful ”— to be glad in the service of the Lord. St. 
Stanislaus Kostka, a Polish youth, brought up in 
the splendor of the palace, when invited to take 
part in the passing show and glitter of court life, 
quietly replied, “ I have been born for greater 
things.” 

The worldling will be tempted to smile at the 
response of the generous young man who had re¬ 
solved to dedicate his life to the service of God. 
He will perhaps pity him for not placing due value 
upon the opportunities, so freely offered him, for 
sharing in princely splendor and amusements. Yet, 
estimating that response and the life of sanctity 
which it inspired, from the standpoint of values that 
endure, who will say that Stanislaus chose foolishly ? 
Who will assert that he forsook the better part, 
and that he turned to things of lesser moment ? To¬ 
day Stanislaus is known and rightly honored in the 
Church as a youth, who in a few years arrived at 
the full stature of heroic sanctity. For to him have 
been well applied the words of Holy Writ: “ Having 


166 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


been made perfect in a short space, he fulfilled a 
long time.” 

We are perhaps not called upon to make that 
heroic sacrifice of all earthly hopes and comforts 
which was made by this saint. Yet his maxim — 
I have been born for greater things — may be chosen 
by young and old, by those of the world and those 
in the cloister, by rich and poor, as a valiant help 
in the hour of trial, as a gentle reminder that though 
earthly success be far away, yet an eternal crown 
is close at hand. It is won by faithful cooperation 
with the grace of God given to every one of us, by 
brave, cheerful surrender to His will in all things, 
by carrying the burden of work and duty laid upon 
us in the spirit of the Divine Master. 

49. WEEPING OVER JERUSALEM 

In the nineteenth chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel 
we read the touching scene of the Master’s drawing 
nigh to the Holy City of Jerusalem and weeping over 
it, saying: "If thou also hadst known, and that in 
this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but 
now they are hidden from thy eyes.” He deplored 
the coming destruction of its lordly dwellings, its 
treasures, its works of art. “ Thy enemies shall 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 167 

cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, 
and straighten thee on every side.” 

Here the Lord bemoans the fate of a city built 
of stone and mortar — a material structure. How 
often must not that same gracious Master weep over 
the ruin of something much more costly than a 
pile of earthly materials — the ruin of man’s im¬ 
mortal soul! By mortal sin the soul is laid waste, 
death enters in, man is robbed of the sanctifying 
grace of his Saviour; he becomes a worthless tree; 
he can no longer merit for life eternal. He be¬ 
comes a slave to his own sinful self, or to shameful 
passion, to a mocking, deceitful world, to Satan, 
the enemy of all men. In the state of mortal sin 
man is frequently deprived of peace of mind, of 
quiet of soul, unless indeed he be so sorely steeped 
in grievous sin that it can be said of him, as was 
written of the haughty king of old: “ Induratum 

erat cor Pharaonis ”— Pharaoh’s heart was hard¬ 
ened. Our faith teaches us that were man to die in 
the state of unrepented, unforgiven sin, he would be 
eternally lost. 

If all these evil results follow from mortal sin 
— and they are only a few of its disastrous effects 
; —surely the gracious Saviour of man must often 


168 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

weep over the ruin of that which He prized so 
highly, of that soul, which he came upon earth to 
strengthen, to uplift, to sanctify, and to make 
worthy to remain the eternal dwelling of the Holy 
Spirit. The soul may well be compared to a 
precious dwelling, to an abode more regal and mag¬ 
nificent than any that graced the Holy City of 
Jerusalem. If the destruction of the material city 
gave pain to the loving heart of the God-man, what 
anguish and woe must be inflicted upon His Sacred 
Heart, by souls once precious, now steeped in hid¬ 
eous sin ? “ Know thou, and see, that it is an evil 
thing to have left the Lord, thy God.” 

Many a Catholic youth sets out bravely in the 
morning of life with high hope and lofty resolve 
never to leave the Lord, his God, by the commission 
of foul and grievous sin! But alas! soon robber 
passions attack him, perhaps less virtuous com¬ 
panions give him an outlook into a land where hang 
the shadows of death and where blossoms the fruit 
of eternal remorse. In a dark hour he enters upon 
the primrose path leading farther into that decep¬ 
tive country, and like the son in the parable of the 
Prodigal, he is soon forced to feed upon the husks of 
swine. He has left the Lord, his God. He now 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 169 

knows no peace of soul and the fruit which once 
seemed to him so sweet and fair, has become bitter 
to his taste. Perhaps he has drunk deeply of cups 
of flame and restless, sinful desires of the heart, 
which was once the abode of heavenly peace, now 
drive him farther and farther from the light and 
love of God’s countenance. And during all this 
time his Saviour weeps — weeps over the ruin, the 
destruction of a precious soul, destined for a 
mansion in the city of eternal peace. 

“ And thy enemies shall beat thee flat to the 
ground.” Thus prophesied the Redeemer when in 
vision He foresaw the woes that were to fall upon 
the city. So, too, does sin with its fearful conse¬ 
quences cast man from the high station which once 
was his when a child of God, in the state of sancti¬ 
fying grace. And while the sinner goes about with 
anguish and remorse in his heart, while he stains 
his soul ever more with that one great evil, serious 
sin, the Saviour weeps. Have we perhaps been 
guilty of that great evil? Have we turned away 
from the Lord, our God? Have we added to the 
insults that afflict the Divine Heart of the Saviour? 
Then let us during these days listen to the still, 
small voice, pleading for a return to the Father’s 


170 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 

house. We can turn the Saviour’s sorrow into joy 
only by sincere repentance. And that peace which 
once was the portion of the soul will again take up 
its dwelling in the heart. For only by this contrite 
return to grace and to forgiveness, do you show that 
you have known “ the things that are to thy peace.” 

50. WHAT IS WORTH WHILE? 

We are often told to reflect on the swiftness with 
which things of sense and time pass away, and not 
to attach our hearts to pursuits which serve only 
to satisfy the fancy of the idle hour. We are bid 
to lay hold of things worth while and to lay up 
treasures in an abiding land, treasures which neither 
the moth can consume nor the thief carry away. 

A precious teaching this, but, also, so little heeded 
in this strenuous age! We go down some evening 
to one of the crowded corners of our city streets — 
and what a rush and hubbub there greets the eye! 
People of all classes, especially the young, and the 
giddy and the frivolous seekers of pleasure are 
there, all apparently in quest of something, bent on 
attaining something which apparently they sorely 
need. It is excitement, distraction, the life of the 
senses which have seized upon them and for the 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 171 

time being carried them away. Restlessness and 
confusion are written on many a face in that eager 
throng. 

Such a life long-continued meets with its nat¬ 
ural penalty. Doctors say that nervous troubles 
are increasing and there are many premature break¬ 
downs. The vitality and resisting power of the 
race are very much in danger of being impaired. 
Frail bodies cannot endure the demands made upon 
them by this ceaseless craze for sense distractions, 
and give way long before their time. 

What is one reason why so many people fall 
victims to this great modern evil and so readily 
join the flock which rushes day after day, and night 
after night, in quest of something new in the line 
of distraction? They have forgotten what is really 
worth while. Measured from the standpoint 
of eternal things, “ sub specie aeternitatis,” their 
strivings and quests and ambitions are vain and use¬ 
less. They are like those beating the air. They 
are like children led on by a will-o-the-wisp over a 
smiling meadow to ruin. 

It were well for such persons to ask themselves 
occasionally the question: “ What does it all 
mean? ” “ What is all this for eternity? ” In the 


172 


THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


eternal years towards which we are all going there 
is not this rush and tumult. Why fasten our hearts 
to interests and distractions which we cannot take 
with us to the life of eternity? We may also drop 
worry and discontent, and selfishness and conceit 
over past success — for all these avail us nothing. 
We cannot take them with us to the eternal abode. 

Let us try to find out what things are worth 
while. They are precisely the things and qualities 
we may take with us to the eternal life. Let us 
take hold of the grace of God and continually try 
to live in the state of grace. Let us esteem work 
and the spirit of service. These things may avail 
us in eternity. Friendship, too, with those who 
love God and take joy in His service, is worth while 
and may avail to the eternal life. For it may help 
to an esteem of interests which are worth while and 
which may be continued in a more perfect manner 
in the eternal years. 

51. THE TESTIMONY OF THOSE WITHOUT 

The Church is frequently compared to a king¬ 
dom. Those of us who have been admitted into 
it by the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, who have 
accepted its teachings, and have ever remained faith- 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 173 

ful to the pledges made when we received that 
first and most necessary sacrament may rightly be 
called children of this kingdom, which is the Church 
of Christ. Those who have not had the privilege 
of being incorporated by Baptism and by faith into 
this great Communion, may be said to linger out¬ 
side the walls. Some of them often cast wistful 
glances at those within. For they behold the bene¬ 
fits and graces that are the share of those who, in 
the words of St. Peter, constitute a kingly priest¬ 
hood and a chosen generation. 

They who are without the walls, though deprived 
of the helps and enlightenment of those who par¬ 
ticipate in the spiritual riches of the kingdom, 
are sometimes ready to give testimony to the strength 
and efficiency and beauty and splendor of the or¬ 
ganization which they behold only from afar. We 
intend to offer some of this testimony in the pres¬ 
ent paper. 

A modern non-Catholic writer, from whose es¬ 
says and critical studies it would be easy to collect 
quite an anthology of opinions and judgments in 
defense of Catholic truth and teaching, is the late 
Professor H. T. Peck. Concluding an essay on 
Huysmans in his book “ The Personal Equation,” 


174 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


this essayist speaks of the power and ability of the 
Catholic Church to meet all the spiritual needs of 
men at the present time. He refers to the great 
privilege which Catholics have in their recourse to 
the Sacrament of Penance. He writes: 

“ To those of us who are Protestants the book 
(Huysman’s “ En Route ”) is full of deep instruc¬ 
tion in revealing with startling force the secret of the 
power of that wonderful religious organization 
which has made provision for the needs of every 
human soul, whether it requires for its comfort 
active service or the mystical life of contemplation. 
We see how every want is understood and how for 
every spiritual problem an answer is provided; how 
the experience of twenty centuries has been stored 
up and recorded, and how all that man has ever 
known, is known to those who guide and perpetuate 
this mighty system. And in these days when Doc¬ 
tors of Divinity devote their energies to nibbling 
away the foundations of historic faith, and when 
the sharpest weapons of antagonism are forged on 
theological anvils, there is something reassuring in 
the contemplation of the one great Church that does 
not change from age to age, that stands unshaken 
on the rock of its conviction, and that speaks to 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 175 

the wavering and troubled soul, in the serene and 
lofty accents of divine authority.” 

The late Dr. Harper, of the University of Chi¬ 
cago, has given us some strong testimony regarding 
the system of teaching which has ever been in vogue 
in our schools. We are sometimes accused of lay¬ 
ing too much stress on religious training of youth. 
We are advised not to spend too much time on Cat¬ 
echism. We are told that too much teaching of 
religion may even work harm. But here is the con¬ 
clusion reached by Dr. Harper after long years of 
study of our educational systems and of what they 
have accomplished for the moral uplift of the youth 
of the land. The quotation is taken from his well- 
known work “ The Trend in Higher Education ” 
(page 224) : 

“ The seminary student must study and know the 
public school system and must supplement that sys¬ 
tem. It is difficult to foretell the outcome of an¬ 
other fifty years of our educational system — a sys¬ 
tem which trains the mind, but for the most part, 
leaves the moral side untouched; no religion, no 
ethics, merely a sharpening of the intellect. The 
Roman Catholics meet this difficulty; our Protestant 
churches seem utterly to ignore it. A blind faith 


176 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


that the Sunday school will do what the public 
schools do not do, leads us to lose sight of a peril 
as deadly as any that confronts us.” 

As regards social service it is sometimes sug¬ 
gested that it be carried on entirely independent of 
the Church. In other words, some persons narrow 
social service work down to mere humanitarian 
work and overlook the divine element of charity 
which should accompany acts of well-doing towards 
our neighbor. In the Catholic Church supernatural 
love or charity has always been a powerful incen¬ 
tive urging on her children to acts of mercy and 
helpfulness and benevolence. The same authority 
just quoted justifies the close association of char¬ 
itable work with religion. He writes in the work 
already alluded to: “ Let us teach, too, that the 
Church through its ministers should, therefore, take 
up any and all agencies which make for the better¬ 
ment of mankind. Jesus was a healer of the body 
as well as of the soul. The multitude of outside 
agencies now engaged in humanitarian work are 
sucking the very life-blood of the Church. Here, 
again, the Roman Catholics have shown a greater 
wisdom than the Protestants; for with them these 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 177 

agencies are, in nearly every case, those of the 
Church.” 

While the Church thus encourages social work 
and insists on a religious basis, it does not go to 
the other extreme of identifying its mission with 
the mere material uplift of the poor and those in 
need. Many of those outside the Church find an 
element of strength precisely in this fidelity in ad¬ 
hering to her one great divine mission — the sal¬ 
vation of immortal souls. Thus William Lyon 
Phelps, head of the English department of Yale, 
several months ago, made these statements which 
certainly contain a large element of truth: 

“ The main difficulty with the church to-day is that 
the people in the pews do not have the gospel 
preached to them. The hungry sheep look up and 
are not fed. The tremendous strength of the 
Roman Catholic Church lies in its fidelity to prin¬ 
ciple , in its religious vitality and in its hatred of 
compromise. It should be an object lesson to all 
Protestant ministers. They ought to learn that the 
chief duty of a preacher is to hold forth Christianity 
and not discourse on sanitation, political economy 
and literature.” 


178 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


Finally a word as to the social value of religious 
orders of men and women and of monastic com¬ 
munities. It is one of the stale and traditional 
accusations against us that some of our institutions 
are distinctly “ unsocial ” and contribute little to 
the general progress and welfare of society. “ The 
monks ” and their monasteries are often cited as 
glaring examples. But one of the latest and most 
advanced sociologists of our country, a non-Cath- 
olic, Dr. R. Fulton Cutting, of New York, in his 
recent work “ The Church and Society” (New 
York, The Macmillan Co., pp. 5, 6, 7), says: 

“ The Church’s contribution to civilization in the 
past has been immeasurable. In the Middle Ages 
the monasteries were the refuges to which flocked 
the poor, the suffering, the widow and the orphan. 
In fact, all who were oppressed found within their 
walls a refuge. . . . The Church, through her 
religious orders, was the educator of Society . It 
was they who first practiced scientific farming. 
They were the road builders of the Dark Ages, the 
drainers of swamps and fens, the patrons of archi¬ 
tecture and painting, and they supplied at the same 
time, in their own organizations, the object lesson 
of a model society.” 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 179 


52. SOUL CULTURE 

Year after year we behold the phenomena of 
growth in nature round about us. There is a con¬ 
stant process of change in the world of vegetation. 
Man placed in the midst of this wonderful mani¬ 
festation of life likewise grows and changes. He 
is subject to the same inevitable law. 

But how often, alas, man grows only in body and 
mind in the progress of the years. For many there 
are who starve their souls, though there are so many 
opportunities held out to them for strengthening the 
life of the soul, for the practice of all kinds of vir¬ 
tue, for rising to the full stature of heroic sanctity. 
But thousands and thousands allow the treasure of 
sanctifying grace, which was infused into their 
souls in Baptism, to remain unproductive as regards 
larger and more beautiful fruits of holiness. 

And yet we have the direct and earnest invitation 
of our Divine Lord ever to increase in soul-power. 
This invitation means we should strive ever to be¬ 
come more fit for the eternal homeland of heaven. 
For does not the Saviour tell us “ the kingdom of 
heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a 
man took and sowed in his field. Which is the least 


i8o THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is 
greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that 
the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches 
thereof? ” 

So many of our youth, after they have left the 
Catholic school, do not develop the life of their 
soul upwards towards God. From their early Chris¬ 
tian instruction they bring with them into the strug¬ 
gle of life a few hazy notions about their obliga¬ 
tions towards God and their duties as members of 
Christ s Church. But there is no strength, there 
is no development of thews during the years of 
adolescence in preparation for the spiritual combat 
which they must wage in order to remain faithful 
soldiers of the Lord Christ. 

Now why this sad lack of spiritual strength and 
preparedness for the dark hour of conflict and temp¬ 
tation? One reason lies in the fact that the minds 
of these young people have been nurtured on the 
foolish principles taught by a world whose watch¬ 
word is get along.” But this means merely a 
getting along in a material way. It means an ac¬ 
cumulation of gold, the attainment of some empty 
honor, the arriving at social eminence. Their pro¬ 
gram is limited to money getting and to the secur- 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 181 


ing of a competence. All else is considered sec¬ 
ondary. And so gradually all the sturdy Christian 
principles implanted in earlier life, and all the teach¬ 
ings familiar to them in school days, are one by 
one cast overboard as useless ballast. The youth 
thinks that he has become emancipated. 

Some there are who by holding fast to these 
worldly maxims may advance in worldly ways and 
“ make their mark ” in society. But how lone and 
desolate the interior life of their souls! They have 
not laid up power and resistance against the day of 
desolation. They have builded themselves costly 
mansions and adorned them with precious orna¬ 
ments which dazzle the eye, they are admiringly 
spoken of by their fellowmen. But yet they are to 
be pitied since they have accumulated none of those 
treasures which pass not away, and which the rust 
and the moth do not consume. 

It behooves all of us not to neglect the life of the 
soul while we are fighting the battle of life and 
marching towards the grave through life’s fitful 
fever. There is one beautiful and shining example 
proposed to all men, teaching them that while they 
are concerned with the things of Mammon they 
should not risk the interests of their precious souls. 


182 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


This example is given us by the Christ-child Him¬ 
self, Who after He was found in the temple, went 
down to Nazareth, and there increased in wisdom, 
and age, and grace with God and men. Here we 
have a model of soul culture. By increasing in this 
way, Christ wrought the greatest work ever under¬ 
taken by man — the redemption of the world. 
Can we not, therefore, highly resolve that while 
reaching out for things that pass away we starve 
not, nor jeopardize the interests of the immortal 
soul? 


53 . “ A HOLY AND WHOLESOME THOUGHT ” 

There is hardly one of us who does not cherish 
the memory of some dear, departed parent, relative 
or friend. There is scarcely a person who does 
not occasionally recall the name of one now dead, 
one dearer beyond dreams and whose voice once 
was music to their ears. 

To those afflicted by the loss of their departed, 
the Church recalls the sweet doctrine of the Com¬ 
munion of Saints. She reminds them that there is 
a more potent means than idle tears to show 
love for those who have answered the last great 
call and taken their places beside the vast army of 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 183 

the silent dead. This means is prayer. And “ it 
is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray 
for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins ” 
(II Mac. XII, 46). 

In her genuine interest for the dead, the Church, 
as in all her ritual, prayers and ceremonies, shows 
the mother’s love towards all her children. There 
is one great exception to the proverb: “ Out of 
sight, out of mind.” The memory of our dead is 
kept alive by the frequent exhortations of the min¬ 
isters of the Church to “ remember the faithful de¬ 
parted,” by our special Requiem Masses, by our 
pious confraternities who pray specially for the 
dead, and by certain religious congregations who 
offer almost all their good works and sacrifices for 
the souls in Purgatory. 

That there is a state of purgation called Purga¬ 
tory, we know from the Old Testament, where we 
read that in the wars of the Maccabees many of the 
followers of Judas, the leader of the Jews, were 
slain. Under their coats were found some of the 
idols “ which the law forbiddeth to the Jews.” It 
was sinful to have preserved these superstitious ob¬ 
jects. But Judas, their captain, “ making a gath¬ 
ering, sent 12,000 drachms of silver to Jerusalem 


184 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, 
thinking well and religiously concerning the resur¬ 
rection.” Judas and his people evidently believed 
in an intermediate state of punishment, otherwise 
they would not have made the great offering for the 
dead. 

Prayer for the dead may have a wholesome effect 
upon ourselves. We are reminded, that in a few 
years perhaps, we too shall have been gathered 
to them who are no more. For on some morning 
the sun will shine, but its rays will no longer 
brighten our path. For we shall have been taken 
out to our last resting place. And the thought of 
death is always beneficial and salutary in a world 
where much tempts us to forget God and our soul’s 
salvation. 

54. “ BUT OUR CONVERSATION IS IN HEAVEN ” 

The Epistles of St. Paul are full of practical ad¬ 
vice for the every-day life of Christians. It would 
be a mistake to suppose that the letters which he 
addressed to the early Christian churches had a 
meaning and message only for their respective 
members. His letters contain a message of uni¬ 
versal appeal. They apply to Christians of all ages; 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 185 

for the spiritual needs and the spiritual trials of 
members of the Church militant are practically the 
same throughout the centuries of the Church’s 
existence. 

All this is especially true in the case of those 
practical directions which he gave to the brethren 
concerning their conduct in the midst of a vicious 
and sinful world. The evils that beset the Church 
of Ephesus and of Corinth, the evils that threat¬ 
ened the religious life of the Colossians and the 
Thessalonians, are still rampant to-day. We too 
must fight against the insidious dangers which be¬ 
set all followers of the Crucified. In Paul’s 
wonderful Epistle to the Philippians we find some 
of these dangers specified. In the third chapter 
of this letter, from which the above quotation is 
taken, Paul warns the brethren against false teach¬ 
ers. He tells them that he counts all earthly things 
loss in order that he may gain Christ. And after 
detailing the wretched lives of those who are 
enemies of the Cross of Christ, “whose end is de¬ 
struction; who mind earthly things,” he breaks out 
into this inspired remark: “ But our conversation 

is in heaven; from whence also we look for the 
Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.” 


186 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


This sentence is all the more fraught with mean¬ 
ing when we remember that the word conversation 
does not merely mean an interchange of words, but 
rather the manner of conducting ourselves before 
the world, and refers to the complexus of our social 
relations. Hence sound critics tell preachers to be 
guarded and careful lest they apply this text of St. 
Paul to “ pious conversations.’" The text means 
that a Christian should remember that his entire 
life — his thoughts, words and aspirations, his de¬ 
sires and his heart’s desires, are to be fixed in 
heaven. He should recall that as a child of the 
Church and a member of the flock of Christ, his 
dignity is not to be measured by the fleeting things 
of sense and time. For, to use the words of the 
same Apostle, he is “ bought with a price.” And 
this price is none other than the Blood of the Lamb. 

What a practical maxim for us to bear in mind 
in the hurry and stress and turmoil of every-day 
life! “ But our conversation is in heaven.” Even 
if we limit the application of the words to the works 
of the tongue, what a splendid message the text 
contains. Alas! how often the “ conversation ” of 
Catholics, of members of the Church of Christ, is 
not in heaven. On the streets, on the highways, and 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 187 

byways, in the shop, the office and the factory, at 
work and at amusements, conversation drifts to 
things which “ ought not to be mentioned among 
Christians.” 

A stream of blasphemy, a vile mass of smutty 
insinuation and of jokes of double meaning pour 
forth from the lips of Christians, who have been 
bought with a great price. 

How vividly St. Paul, in the same chapter to the 
Philippians, describes the wretched ending of those 
who persist in vicious conduct of this kind. He 
says of them: “ For many walk, of whom I have 

told you often (and now tell you weeping), that 
they are enemies of the Cross of Christ; whose end 
is destruction; whose God is their belly; and whose 
glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things.” 

At all times, Christians who are exposed to the 
dangers just mentioned,— the dangers resulting to 
their immortal souls from foul speech and blas¬ 
phemous tongues, may well hold fast to the inspir¬ 
ing remark of St. Paul: “ Our conversation is in 

heaven.” How despicable, and how cowardly, too, 
to cast our lot with those whose conduct and conver¬ 
sation will ultimately lead them down to shameful 
destruction! Evil conversation corrupts good man- 


188 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


ners. Nasty jokes and filthy songs debase minds, 
poison hearts and ruin immortal souls. Let us re¬ 
member the words of the great St. Paul. Let us be 
mindful of the advice of Saint Leo: “ Remember, 
O Christian, thy dignity.” Let us remember that 
though we are in the world, we are not to be of it. 
For as Christians, “ our conversation is in heaven.” 

55. ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI — THE APOSTLE 
OF BROTHERLY LOVE 

He assuredly deserves well of his fellowmen in 
these stressful times, who can bring into their hearts 
a little of that peace which the Divine Master be¬ 
queathed to all His children. But alas! in spite 
of the many agencies for multiplying material com¬ 
forts, in spite of the manifold discoveries in applied 
arts and industry, there is so little genuine peace 
of mind, and so little contentment among men. 

There is, on the contrary, a great restlessness, a 
vague ambition, a striving and clamoring for empty 
things, whose possession, however, will not bring 
the long desired happiness. The modern dramas 
and works of fiction frequently take as their theme 
this wave of discontent that has swept over large 
sections of society. The solution proposed by the 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 189 

writers for these evils, is seldom convincing. In 
fact, the so-called heroes and heroines who parade 
through these novels and dramas, often plainly in¬ 
dicate that their sordid adventures have added to 
their misery and heartache. As a critic of one 
of these novels writes in the New York Times 
Review of Books (October 10, 1915): “The 
final impression of the (Theodore Dreiser’s) novel 
is that nothing in this world is worth while.” It 
is plain that we cannot learn from characters of this 
type, where the secret of real happiness is to be 
found. 

And yet there have been exceptionally happy men 
and women in this world, whose very presence 
diffused joy and sunshine. They always looked 
to the good of the brotherhood, not to their own 
selfish advantage. The gentle and amiable St. 
Francis of Assisi was such a lover of his kind and 
such a welfare worker among men. A non- 
Catholic scholar thinks that he was the happiest 
man that ever lived. And the recorded sayings 
and little sermons of the Saint would imply that 
such, indeed, is the truth. We can hardly imagine 
the Saint of Assisi being at cross purposes with any 
living creature, still less with a fellowman. The 


190 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


source of his genuine happiness and of his charm- 
ingly friendly relations with his townspeople was 
his constant dwelling on the fact that all men are 
brothers and that they all form one great com¬ 
munity called to the same high inheritance. 

Many books have been written on the work of 
St. Francis and his brethren in the sweet cause of 
charity and the brotherhood of man. The Pov- 
erello, “ the poor little man,” as he was called, has 
been admired even by rationalists, who generally 
refer with ill-disguised contempt to the spirit and 
activities of the religious orders of men and women 
in the Catholic Church. Harnack speaks of him 
as the “ most amiable and lovable of monks .” 

A non-Catholic writer, Professor Wenck, says of 
the work of St. Francis in the cause of social up¬ 
lift: “ Among all the incentives which the 
example of St. Francis still presents to our time, 
the most valuable, no doubt, is that to active charity. 
Francis’ highest glory consist in this — that in his 
relations towards his neighbors he always wished 
to be helpful and to serve. By looking upon all 
creatures as images of their Creator, he felt him¬ 
self inspired by a sentiment of brotherhood toward 
all.” 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 191 

Francis of Assisi is preeminently the model for 
those who dedicate their lives to sweet charity in 
the service of Christ’s poor. What more befitting, 
even for the modern social worker, than this 
genuine spirit of love toward all men, which dis¬ 
tinguished the heroic character of the Poverello of 
Assisi? An adequate account of the social and 
charitable works initiated by him and developed by 
his religious brethren would require a volume. 

It would be worth while to quote a few para¬ 
graphs on this point from a work by Father 
Dubois —“ St. Francis of Assisi, Social Reformer.” 
“ While the Franciscan movement brought about 
a social revolution by the restoration of the 
Christian spirit and the emancipation of the serfs, 
it had also secondary effects which may not be over¬ 
looked. The love of Francis for the poor, the sick, 
the lepers . . . was practical and efficient.” 

“ Not only he, but all his followers, who were 
soon counted by thousands, and among whom were 
many who were noble and rich, gave up all they 
had to the poor. Not only did they distribute their 
own fortunes among them, but the product of their 
labor and the alms which they received also went 
largely to relieve the misery of the unfortunate. 


192 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


There is no doubt that, frequently perhaps, this 
relief was granted to unworthy, designing poor; 
yet it is evident that this displacement of wealth 
was on the whole beneficial.” 

The period of St. Francis had its own peculiar 
forms of misery and distress. One of them was 
that dread scourge of Europe in the Middle Ages 
—’leprosy. Now the care of the sick and of the 
lepers was an obligation of the Friars Minor and 
was even recommended to members of the Third 
Order. Among the latter, St. Louis, King of 
France, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, distinguished 
themselves in later years in their tenderness towards 
those stricken with the foul disease. The era of 
sympathy thus inaugurated by Francis for the 
leprous brought about greater charity between the 
different classes of society, and did much to alleviate 
the wretched lot of the poor and sick of the Middle 
Ages. 

56. “SO LIKE A SHATTERED COLUMN LAY 
THE KING ” 

In Tennyson’s “ Idyls of the King ” there is a 
picture of the heroic Arthur, King of the Table 
Round, how, wounded unto death, after “ the last 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 


193 


great battle in the West,” he lay on the field of 
slaughter “ like a shattered column.” He no longer 
looked like that great Arthur, who “ shot through 
the lists of Camelot, and charged before the eyes 
of ladies and of kings.” 

We have in this picture of the stricken king, de¬ 
spoiled of his knightly accoutrements, an image of 
the sinful soul, smitten down by the foul leprosy of 
serious sin. Once walking serenely like a child of 
God and an heir of Heaven, the youth was truly the 
lord of creation. He participated in the liberty of 
the children of God. Then in an evil hour sin, 
dark, ugly, mortal sin, sin which steeps the living 
soul in spiritual death, came into his life. And 
now, lo! his former dignity has departed. He is no 
longer a friend of God. He is like the wilful 
Prodigal Son of the Gospel story, who had left his 
father’s house and was forced to feed with swine. 
He has become a useless tree, fit only to be cut down 
and cast into the fire. He is like a shattered 
column, bereft of beauty and proportion, a being to 
be pitied for the evil plight that has laid him low. 

And yet that same soul was created in the image 
of God. St. John Chrysostom rightly says that 
man by his very stature — upright and erect, differs 


194 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


from the beast which grovels on the ground. He 
should not demean himself to the level of the brute 
world which finds complete satisfaction in the vile 
things of sense. Hence even man’s bodily structure 
teaches him his superiority over all other created be¬ 
ings and points out his noble destiny. He can find 
no lasting happiness in groveling among things of 
sense. He shatters all high ideals that may be ex¬ 
pected of him when he becomes the slave to sin. 
He becomes a shattered column, his soul is made 
an outcast and is degraded into a useless drudge. 

The sinner, thus despoiled of the beauty and 
strength of sanctifying grace, is blind to his shame¬ 
ful condition. He does not always recognize how 
low he has fallen, how he has been smitten to the 
ground. For it is the soul that is wounded, it is an 
invisible, infinite God who is offended. If for every 
theft the hand were stricken with palsy, if for every 
fraud the mind were to become deranged, if for 
every blasphemy, curse and filthy word, the tongue 
were to be smitten with corruption; if for every sin 
of uncleanliness, the body were to become covered 
with ulcers and leprosy,— then the sinner might 
understand in some degree the heinousness of sin. 
But the sinner lives on in his crime and wretched 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 195 

state and knows not the foulness of his soul. If 
only that soul ulcered, black and tainted, could be 
revealed to his stricken gaze, he would recoil in 
horror from his own self. He would understand 
that it is a grievous injury to have offended the 
Lord God. He might understand that he is like 
the shattered column, once admired, but now 
trampled upon by the multitude. 

Let us not then besmirch our high dignity by sin 
which brings us down to the level of the brute crea¬ 
tion. Let us heed the warning of the Psalmist: 
“ Man when he was in honor did not understand; 
he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made 
like to them. ,, For to seek joy and satisfaction in 
the pleasures, delights, comforts and glittering 
vanities of earth is to lower and debase one’s dignity 
as a child of God. 

57. “ THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY ” 

In Chapter 13 of St. Matthew’s Gospel we read 
the telling parable of the King, “ who would take 
an account of his servants.” The solemn warning 
conveyed by that oft-told story is that forgiveness 
will not be extended by the heavenly Father to those 
that will not forgive others. 


196 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


This parable, therefore, contains a lesson which 
is very practical and which may be frequently ap¬ 
plied. It is one of those admirable Gospel narra¬ 
tives, which we ought frequently to recall. The 
story bears all the marks of a great piece of litera¬ 
ture. It is of universal and permanent interest. It 
shall never lose its value as long as human society 
remains what it is, as long as we must have social 
and business dealings with our fellowmen. 

How often are we not in the position of the poor 
servant of the Gospel? We too owe debts, 
debts of gratitude to God, to our parents and 
friends, and to our fellowmen. But the narrative 
of our Lord applies to us even if we owe nothing 
to our fellowmen. For we are all debtors to God 
on account of sin and on account of the great mercy 
He has shown us in forgiving us this debt. Here 
we find a second great lesson in this parable, that is 
to say, in the fact that we are debtors to Almighty 
God in a much truer sense than was the servant of 
this Gospel, indebted to the king for the sum of ten 
thousand talents. 

Every time that a soul becomes guilty of serious 
sin, a tremendous debt is contracted towards Al¬ 
mighty God. How can the guilty person by his own 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 197 

power and resources ever remove this tremendous 
indebtedness? Of himself he can do nothing. He 
needs the grace of God to begin his conversion, 
which is the first step in the paying off of the terrible 
bond which he contracted by the commission of 
mortal sin. Our Divine Lord in His goodness has 
instituted the sacrament of Penance for the benefit 
of the sin-laden soul. This sacrament, worthily re¬ 
ceived, helps the Christian, struggling under the 
weight of sin, to cancel the enormous obligation 
which he has incurred. 

Now the fact that our Divine Lord extends 
pardon so graciously and so readily to the sinful 
soul should teach us that we, in turn, must be ever 
ready to forgive those who trespass against us. 
This, as we have already said, is a solemn warning 
conveyed by the parable. 

How utterly at variance, then, with the will of 
our Divine Lord, are those Christians who strive 
to practice many virtues, yet who, at the same time, 
bear grudge and spite and ill-will towards their 
neighbor! How can they really hope for forgive¬ 
ness, if they continue to nurse these harsh and un¬ 
friendly feelings ? Let them recall the awful lot of 
the servant who would not forgive his fellowman. 


198 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


We are taught in the parable that one of the main 
conditions of receiving forgiveness is that we, in 
turn, must forgive our fellowman. 

A prolonged state of enmity and of deliberate 
ill-feeling towards a brother deprives the soul of 
many precious graces. It certainly makes our holy 
Communions less fruitful. It may lead to blind¬ 
ness in spiritual things. It may prepare the en¬ 
trance for other vices into the soul. Has not our 
Divine Lord Himself said at the end of this parable, 
when He spoke of the torturers to whom the wicked 
servant had been delivered: “ So also shall my 

heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every 
one his brother from your heart ? ” 

Persons who harbor thoughts of deep resentment 
and cherish sentiments of anger and revenge against 
others, often try to find vain excuses for such un- 
Christian conduct. But often there is little or no 
cause at all for such a vindictive attitude. The 
cause may have been altogether imaginary, or, at 
least, the origin of the grievance was something 
trifling and unworthy of further notice. Why then 
keep on brooding over imaginary wrongs? Let us 
lift up our eyes from our own little selves, our sup¬ 
posedly great wrongs, to our common Saviour and 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 199 

Lord. Let us give heed to the impressive warning 
of the parable. Let us remember that the practice 
of many virtues, without real love of our neighbor 
in our hearts, avails nothing. For does not St. 
Paul say in his Epistle to the Corinthians (I Cor. 
13, I 3 ) : “ And now there remain faith, hope and 

charity, these three: but the greatest of these is 
charity.” 


58. GOD AND NATURE 

Great Saints like Francis of Assisi and Ignatius 
Loyola, profound scholars like Newton and Coper¬ 
nicus, found contemplation of nature an incentive 
to the love and praise of God. It is said of the 
scientist Ampere, known for his researches in elec¬ 
tro-dynamics, that often while in conversation with 
his brilliant friend Ozanam, he would exclaim: 
“ How great is God! how great is God! ” 

It is just and proper that we should rise from a 
contemplation of the beauties of nature to thoughts 
of the might and power of Him, Who called all 
things into existence. The Christian attitude to¬ 
wards nature should be more uplifting than that of 
the pagans of antiquity and of recent times. 
Homer and Virgil are full of allusions to the beauty 


200 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


of nature, and their descriptions derive a wonderful 
charm from pictures of sea and mountain and smil¬ 
ing landscape. But it is literary beauty only that 
nature lends to their works. When we come to 
the great poets of the Christian era — to Lactantius 
and Ambrose and Prudentius, we find a new and 
inspiring note — nature is regarded as a stepping- 
stone to higher things, and to sublime speculations 
on the beauty of God in the City Celestial. 

Christ teaches us how to approach nature and 
to learn from her the secrets of God’s love and 
providence for His children. If other religious 
teachers sought the city and the market place, the 
Man of Galilee sought the sea-side and the mountain 
and the grove of Gethsemane. He spoke of the 
birds of the field and the lilies of the valley. He 
found simple joy in watching the silver mists creep¬ 
ing over the meadows of Galilee and the snow fall¬ 
ing upon Hermon. From nature he drew some of 
His most beautiful teachings concerning the King¬ 
dom of God. Christ’s attitude toward external 
nature should also be ours. The poet Bryant has 
well said: 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 201 

“ To him who in the love of nature holds com¬ 
munion 

With her visible forms, she speaks a various 
language.” 

The beauty of the verdant valley as well as the 
terror of the stormy sea, the sun-crowned mountain 
top and the yawning abyss all alike bespeak the 
power and grandeur of the Creator. He has called 
all things out of nothing for our good. Theo¬ 
logians use an argument from “ Design,” that is, 
the harmony of nature in the Universe, as a proof 
of the existence of an all-wise Creator. 

The glories of nature which are spread lavishly 
round about us, should not only be to us a cause of 
sincere joy. They should likewise lift up our hearts 
to the unseen God who directs nature to her ap¬ 
pointed end, and who gives us in the work of His 
hand so evident a proof of His wisdom and power. 

59. THE SAINTS AND DEMOCRACY 

Literature during the last half century has been 
largely characterized by the “ Social Idea.” It has 
been tinged with the spirit of democracy. Poems 
have recited the joys and sorrows, the hopes and 


202 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


aspirations of the lt ordinary man,” while works of 
fiction have dealt with those hard facts of life 
around which revolves the lot of the laboring man 
and of the humbler members of society. 

Destined to guide man to a supernatural end, the 
Church calmly pursues this spiritual work for rich 
and poor, for saint and sinner, for those in power 
and those in subjection. Clashes between capital 
and labor concern her only when the moral aspect of 
the controversy is concerned, or when the spiritual 
welfare of those concerned is in jeopardy. But yet 
she adapts herself in a certain way, and as much as 
is consistent with her main purpose, to changing 
conditions. She may, and in fact, she does alter 
her tactics and her methods of gaining souls for 
the kingdom of Christ. For the work of God, as 
Father Faber happily says, “ must be done anew in 
every age,” nor “ must we make light of the differ¬ 
ence of ages.” 

And what message has the Church in these days 
of the changing order and in this era of “ the new 
democracy” ? She still preaches, and perhaps more 
insistently than ever, the great truth of the brother¬ 
hood of man, that all men without exception are 
creatures of God and that all are equal, that the 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 203 

only privilege worth esteeming is that of fellowship 
with Christ in His kingdom. She teaches that all 
— rich and poor, high and low — are children of 
God and called to be members of the Church 
triumphant in Heaven. Now this is the spirit of 
genuine democracy, it is a teaching which will do 
much to smooth out the inequalities springing from 
difference of earthly fortune and of worldly 
prestige. 

It is in her saints that the Church gives one of the 
best and strongest proofs of her devotion to the 
great principle of equal human rights for all. We 
have not yet heard of a saint who attained to holi¬ 
ness by pride, by over-bearing conduct, by spurning 
the God-given rights of the little ones or of the 
humblest toiler, by tyranny or by lust of power. 
The Apostles rose to their sublime office of spiritual 
guides of the early Christian communities from 
“ the ranks ” of the people. For with the exception 
of Matthew and Bartholomew, they were in all 
probability, fishermen or laborers. 

The great missionaries of the Church often began 
their work by preaching to the proud potentates of 
foreign lands the great principle of equal rights for 
all men, and dared to tell them that there is no 


204 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


authority but that which cometh of God. They did 
much to uplift womanhood and to alleviate the 
wretched lot of the slave and of the prisoner of war. 

Francis Xavier, though of noble lineage, gave up 
all earthly prospects in order to live and to die for 
the cause of his Master among a strange people. 
Peter Claver became the servant of slaves in 
Cartagena. Brebeuf and Lallemant and the other 
pioneer missionaries of Northern America some¬ 
times scoured the forest for food for the sick and 
abandoned savages, and ministered to the comfort 
of the children of the wilds. Bishop Marty, who 
labored long among the Sioux of North Dakota, 
lived, as far as regards material comforts, the life 
of those whom he had come to evangelize. 

The saints and the missionaries have done much 
to break down the harsh barriers between wealth 
and poverty. In India their cry was: “We must 
abolish as much as we can the abominable system 
of caste.” The pioneers of the gospel lived con¬ 
tentedly in the wigwam of the Redskin, in the hut 
of the Fellah, and in the kraal of the Zulu. 

When in the great cities of our land there is a 
migration of the well-to-do away from grime and 
dust, and the clangor of toil and the roar of 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 205 

machinery, to the “ fashionable section,” the Church 
of Christ does not abandon the poor and the day- 
laborer. She stays in the midst of those who pass 
laborious days in the factories and foundries of the 
city. But others of the so-called Christian churches, 
in spite of the glowing tribute paid by their ministers 
to the “ age of democracy,” follow the movement 
of the wealthier parishioners. When in the heat 
of summer the preachers of certain churches seek 
out the sea-shore and the mountain-side, and 
temporarily “ close up ” the meeting-house, the 
priest, true to his sacred trust, stays with his people, 
and tells them ever again the sweet story of the 
rood, and assembles his people for common worship 
in the house of God. 

60. TWO TYPES OF HEROES 

Hero-worship is not at all as uncommon and as 
unusual in democratic America as some are inclined 
to believe. We pride ourselves on our spirit of in¬ 
dependence and on our standards for estimating an 
individual’s value to society. And yet, as much 
as any other people, are we led astray by the glitter 
of sham excellence, and we readly join in singing 
the praises of persons whose achievements and 


206 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


whose work do not always make for the lasting good 
of society. In other words, many of us are hero- 
worshipers and our reasons for extolling the lives 
of our favorites and joining in the jubilant applause 
that celebrates their deeds, will not bear a close 
scrutiny. 

Frequently it is the newspaper, or the shallow 
magazine or some popular, perambulating lecturer 
that is responsible for the upgrowth of a foolish or 
sentimental, and often, very unreasonable hero-wor¬ 
ship among the people. These agencies of publicity 
control public opinion to a large extent, and it is 
easy for them to inaugurate a campaign in favor of 
some man or woman whose exploits are described, 
discussed, illustrated, defended and compared with 
those of the great characters of history, until a be¬ 
fuddled public really imagines that heroes and 
heroines great and mighty have arisen among them. 
Even the stage has its heroes and this powerful 
factor for the making of public opinion is not a 
little responsible for the false hero-worship that be¬ 
clouds the judgment of otherwise sane and sensible 
persons. 

Unfortunately the standards employed by the 
press, the popular magazine, the wandering lecturer 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 207 

and the playwright, in presenting the lives and 
achievements of real or imaginary heroes, are not 
those that will recommend themselves to men and 
women who can judge character at its true worth. 
In fact, the standards used are often vicious and 
one-sided. For who are some of the heroes extolled 
in the press, praised in the magazines, celebrated by 
the lecturer or applauded in the theater? Fre¬ 
quently they are persons whose greatest merit is that 
they have “ made good ” merely from a worldly 
point of view. They have amassed millions, they 
have succeeded after long years and many strange 
adventures in wreaking vengeance upon an enemy, 
they have, perhaps with crooked means, gained some 
coveted honor or social distinction, they have per¬ 
formed some feat of fool-hardy bravery, they have 
after much travail of spirit turned out a neat epi¬ 
gram or launched forth a volume attacking “ con¬ 
ventional morality ”—and, henceforth, they are 
heroes. They will now for a long time enjoy 
popular approval. The daily paper and the cheap 
monthly and the demagogue will do the rest — will 
see to it that the favored ones receive their due meed 
of advertisement and applause. 

It is unnecessary to point out many instances to 


208 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


prove that in some such way are our heroes manu¬ 
factured to-day. Some years ago a man, an 
eminent politician, the chief magistrate of our 
greatest city, died on mid-ocean. He had intended 
to go abroad to recuperate after the strenuous work 
of a long and bitter campaign. He had won the 
election. The papers said he had already formed 
great plans for the city’s improvement in every way. 
All he needed was a little rest. But he died, as we 
have said, after scoring a triumph. The papers 
of the metropolis devoted columns to his life and 
“ achievements.” A publishing concern put forth a 
“ Selection of his letters and speeches.” The school 
children were led in procession to his bier in the 
city-hall where the body lay in state. There was 
no end of obituaries and of memorial services. 
That man is now completely forgotten. It is hard 
to find his name in the New York papers. But for 
the time being he was evidently considered a great 
American “ hero.” His praises were sung every¬ 
where and his life was held up to the youth of the 
land as that of an eminently successful citizen. He 
was successful. But not if you gauge success by 
standards of permanent worth and stability. There 
is no intention here to judge the man. If the main 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 209 

traits of his life and character were not so well 
known, the example would not be cited here. But 
the point is that this man was not a hero in the true 
sense of the word though the public press and the 
sensational journals were filled with the story of his 
life’s ambitions and attainments. 

The moneyed man — what a power and what a 
hero he is in the opinion of some people! He 
founds libraries and endows universities, establishes 
palaces of peace and gives pensions to retiring uni¬ 
versity professors. All of which may be very good. 
But the man who does these things is not thereby a 
hero. He does not deserve a tithe of the encomium 
that has been showered upon him nor is it proper and 
just that public buildings and institutions transmit 
his name to future generations. For the ambitions 
and the very successes of that man may not be the 
best example to place before the youth of the land. 
Such a man is not necessarily the most useful 
citizen, nor do his achievements in the conquest of 
wealth bequeath the best and highest ideals to the 
coming generation. 

All this means that there are other heroes and 
other standards of heroism. Fortunately many 
people of the thinking class will admit that the 


2io THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


“ making good ” from a mere worldly point of view, 
is not the sole standard of success and does not of 
itself entitle to enrolment among the world’s band 
of heroes. We have heroes and heroines who dur¬ 
ing their toilsome, humble lives were scarcely known 
beyond the narrow neighborhood where they 
worked out their beautiful lives. We have them in 
the ranks of the poor and the rich, the great and 
the lowly, the highly cultured and the unlearned. 

Ludwig Windthorst, devoting the best years of 
his strenuous life to the defense of the great prin¬ 
ciples of religious liberty and of social justice, 
Windthorst braving the powerful Chancellor of a 
mighty empire — Windthorst was a true hero. The 
ideals bequeathed by him to future generations are 
of the highest type. He sought not worldly ad¬ 
vancement or great riches or a name among the 
famous statesmen. He wished to do good. He 
wanted to serve his God and his fellowman and his 
country. He did it through long years of bitter 
opposition. Such a man is “ a hero in the strife.” 
Windthorst was a hero of another type than the one 
just described. 

The saints were true heroes of this other class. 
Their deeds and lives and virtues are still an in- 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 211 


spiration to the men and women of to-day. Society 
would be all the happier were many to tread in the 
footsteps of those who arrived at sainthood, who re¬ 
mained friends of God because they loved and 
served mankind. We may not perhaps be able to 
imitate them in their particular virtues, but they 
remain an inspiring example. St. Vincent de Paul, 
going about the streets of the fever-smitten city 
and picking up the abandoned children, bringing 
them to Christian homes — what an admirable 
example of social service for our day which sorely 
needs this genuine charity and love for the poor! 
We may perhaps have to revise our notions of hero- 
worship and of heroism, and see whether our models 
are those of a foolish and frivolous world, which 
reckons success by vain and empty standards, or 
whether they be those presented to us by the Church 
of Christ, one of whose sweet privileges it is to in¬ 
vite us to contemplate the lives and virtues of those 
who wrought great deeds for God and men and 
whose memory will ever be held in benediction. 

61. METEOR-LIKE THEY VANISH 

During her progress through the centuries the 
Church has been combated by enemies from within 


212 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


and from without. The former were the heretics 
like Pelagius, Zwingli and Calvin; the latter, chiefly 
the potentates and rulers who opposed to her 
spiritual weapons the might and power of their 
legions. 

Yet history bears witness that the triumph of 
these enemies arrayed against the Teacher of Truth 
has been short-lived. They vanished like meteors. 
For a while they may have shone brilliantly. Per¬ 
haps they dazzled men by their power and by spe¬ 
cious arguments hurled against the Church founded 
on the Rock. They may have caused the faint¬ 
hearted and those of weak faith to tremble lest the 
pillar of truth be shaken in its foundation. Yet 
now these enemies are no more. Their work has 
almost passed away. Their names are no longer 
in the mouths of the multitude. 

A few years ago certain enthusiasts in this 
country celebrated the five-hundredth anniversary 
of the death of a so-called Reformer. It was John 
Huss of Bohemia, who was executed for heresy in 
I 4 I 5 - He had stirred up the people by pernicious 
teachings. He had affirmed that “ the church is the 
congregation of the predestined; ” that “priests 
must preach the word of God regardless of the cen- 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 213 

sure of the Church.” These were only two of his 
false doctrines. Like Wyclif he appealed to the 
mob and incited them to persecute priests and 
monks. The Council of Constance ordered the 
“ reformer ” to be seized, and proceeded with him 
according to the custom of the time. 

These facts were rehearsed and John Huss was 
praised as a martyr of liberty against “ ecclesiasti¬ 
cal tyranny.” The magazines sounded his praises 
and books were compiled in his honor. But now 
he is once more forgotten. His brief triumph was 
anything but universal. It was prepared and par¬ 
ticipated in chiefly by those who are always eager 
to hurl a dart against Rome. 

The earlier heretics and disseminators of false 
doctrines are almost completely forgotten. Many 
persons could hardly tell what is meant by the 
heresies of the Monophysites, the Monothelites, or 
of the Nestorians. These false teachings and their 
authors have passed away, while the Church which 
they attacked “ goes on forever.” 

“ Magna est veritas, et praevalet ”—“ Truth is 
great, and it prevails.” This is seldom verified 
so clearly as when the wreckage of a past heresy is 
momentarily brought to the surface, as was done 


214 the pilgrimage of life 


at the afore-mentioned anniversary. It is sad to 
view the remnants of these shattered systems and 
equally sad to recall the fate of their defenders, who 
once basked in the smiles of the multitude and per¬ 
haps enjoyed the temporary favor of those in the 
seats of the mighty. Teachers of falsehood come 
and go, kings and rulers, drunk with the rage of 
thwarted passion, raise impotent hands against the 
upholders of Christ’s law and sow dissension in the 
very sanctuary of the Church, yet these onslaughts 
finally fall back upon those directing them. For 
the Church is founded on a Rock and she will sur¬ 
vive the storms and heresies of centuries. Nothing 
is more interesting than to watch the Bark of 
Peter going down the centuries, battered and beaten 
by the cunning weapons expressly forged against 
her, yet safely surviving amid furious attacks which 
would long ago have shattered an institution not 
supported by the power of God. 

62. ACCEPTING HARD TRUTHS 
It is sometimes said by those hostile to our Faith 
and by those who do not understand it sufficiently, 
that Catholics must believe hard and unpalatable 
truths. They must accept the distinction between 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 215 

venial and mortal sin, it is asserted, and they must 
likewise believe that unforgiven mortal sin will be 
punished by hell-fire. Now these are truths which 
the unbelieving modern world refuses to accept. It 
finds them outworn and useless in an “ age of en¬ 
lightenment.” 

But are these truths really so harsh and so unrea¬ 
sonable as to merit rejection by the thinking mind? 
Some time ago a number of eminent business and 
professional men of St. Louis spent three days in 
going through the exercises of a “ Retreat.” Their 
chief duty was meditation on those truths which un¬ 
believers, and those whose faith is weak, find for¬ 
bidding and unpalatable. Yet one and all these 
men found reflection on the hard truths proposed 
to them in the Retreat very satisfactory and very 
much worth while. They failed to see why the 
Catholic teaching on sin and its dread punishment 
in a future life should be called unreasonable. In 
fact, they said that this truth when calmly consid¬ 
ered, strikes one as very just, very sound, very 
logical. So beneficial was their meditation of these 
verities to their souls, that the participants in the 
Retreat said that they would return the following 
year to spend three days in the same way. 


216 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


This is the experience of all persons who have 
pondered these truths in a calm and dispassionate 
state of mind. They are not ashamed to make 
them the guide and rule of their lives. They 
have considered them with reason, enlightened 
by faith. They do not find them inconsistent with 
the teachings of sound philosophy. The truths 
possess, in fact, an element of grandeur and solidity 
which is highly comforting in an age which seeks 
to destroy and break away from all revealed teach¬ 
ing. 


63. THE PUBLIC LIFE OF CHRIST 

By the public or active life of our Divine Lord 
we mean the last three years of His blessed career 
on earth which He devoted to works of mercy, to 
the preaching of His doctrine and to the foundation 
and perfecting of the Church. One of the striking 
features of this active life is its brevity when com¬ 
pared with the thirty years He spent in the obscurity 
of Nazareth. And yet the saints have found those 
three years of His apostolic career a wonderful sub¬ 
ject for meditation and inspiration. Innumerable 
books have been written on that portion of our 
Lord’s sojourn among men. 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 217 

As it is the principal work of every sincere 
Christian who really has at heart the salvation of his 
soul to imitate his Divine Lord, that public life 
should often be considered. But how can we ap¬ 
proach this vast subject upon which libraries have 
been written? Where should we begin? Every 
moment, every word, every act and miracle of the 
Saviour’s public activity means so much for us. 
The saints and learned spiritual writers teach us 
how to consider that active life, and how to make 
it our model through life’s weary pilgrimage. We 
shall find that it is remarkable for three virtues. 

That life was in the first place a life of work . 
This is the first lesson it holds out to us. We must 
all work and be active in some way. Now Christ’s 
chief duty was to do the will of His Father, Who 
had sent Him into the world. Hence, “ He went 
about doing good,” teaching His heavenly doctrine 
and inviting all men to learn from Him. We know, 
too, that He was “ in labors from His youth.” His 
friends were the poor, and He was often obliged 
to help them rather than put them to discomfort by 
allowing them to help Him. He instructed the 
people at all times and gave Himself little rest, for 
He was consumed with zeal for the glory of His 


218 THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE 


Father. He used every occasion of imparting in¬ 
struction to the people. And teaching the rude, the 
hard of heart, those who looked only for the resto¬ 
ration of the splendors of ancient Israel, was not an 
easy task. And how difficult it was to form 
apostles, and teachers of the Gospel, from the rough 
material at His command — the twelve fishermen 
and rude men of worldly interests! 

That life was in the second place a life of prayer . 
Often he retired into solitude to pray. For He was 
dependent on the will of His eternal Father. He 
had come to do his Father’s work. For this He 
needed the Father’s help. He sought it in earnest 
and persevering prayer. As a result of this 
frequent prayer, our Lord’s active life was one of 
interior recollection and of union with His eternal 
Father. He often spent the night in prayer and He 
prayed to the Father before working some of the 
most striking miracles. 

The active life was in the third place a life of 
suffering. For Christ sought not the comforts of 
life. His friends had none, or few of the good 
things of the world, and so could not enrich Him. 
He said of Himself, that He had not where to lay 
His head. Worse than this, He suffered from the 


THOUGHTS FOR ALL TIMES 219 

opposition, calumnies and persecutions of His 
enemies. For did they not seek to put Him to 
death? Again, the people who listened to Him to¬ 
day, were ready to stone Him on the morrow. 

Now who cannot learn much wisdom and draw 
help and inspiration from our Lord’s conduct during 
His public career? Is not our’s a life of labor? 
Can we succeed without prayer? Is not suffering 
and trial and hardship our portion? We may then 
look upon that model whom we all must imitate — 
Christ Jesus in His public life. If we do so, we 
may be certain to follow the path that leads to final 
victory and to perseverance in the way of God’s 
commandments. For Christ is still the Way, the 
Truth and the Life: the way that we should walk, 
the truth we should know, and the life we should 
imitate. 





















































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